FIVE THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. Hawaii gets a good night’s sleep. The Warriors play host to Texas El Paso this week after one of the most remarkable wake-up-call wins we can recall. Last week, Hawaii played at Southern Methodist in a game that started at 6 a.m. Hawaii time. That means players, staying at the Dallas Airport Marriott, had to rise in the middle of the night, body time, to prepare for the game. What was bed check, 7:15 p.m? It’s no wonder Hawaii quickly fell behind, but it rallied from a 17-3 halftime deficit to win, 38-31, in overtime.

2. So much for the study hall argument. NCAA presidents love to cite missed class time as a reason against a playoff in major college football, but no one seems to mind when schools play at all hours of the night or week if there’s a TV deal to be cut. Next week, on what used to be a bowling night, Louisville and Southern Mississippi will play the first-ever Tuesday night game, to be telecast by ESPN. Conference USA, a league desperate for publicity, given that it does not have a top 25 team, will offer up East Carolina at Texas Christian on Tuesday, Oct. 30.

3. Nate Hybl gets the start. Suddenly, information is flowing like crude oil out of Norman, Okla. After last week’s 14-3 victory against Texas, Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops refused to disclose the injury that forced starting quarterback Hybl from the game. It took darn near a Frontline investigation to weed out that Hybl had injured his left, non-throwing shoulder. Stoops, though, made it clear that Hybl, not backup Jason White, would start Saturday at Kansas. White won over many fans with his timely runs in the victory against Texas, and some think he is Oklahoma’s better long-term option, but Stoops is sticking with Hybl.

Then again, Stoops could start at quarterback and beat Kansas.

4. The Dorsey brothers. Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey leads the Hurricanes into Tallahassee against Florida State, which means Ken and his brother, Adam, won’t be talking until after the game. Adam Dorsey, Ken’s older brother, is a student at Florida State, not a player, but there’s a reason the two won’t be conversing. “I don’t want to hear the kind of things they’re saying to him,” Ken said this week. You can understand why Miami might not be welcomed in Tallahassee. The Hurricanes are the last team to beat the Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium, in 1991, and won last year’s game in Miami, 27-24.

5. Arizona at Oregon State. Call this Pacific 10 matchup the “Battle of the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinxes.” In 1994, Arizona was coming off a 10-2 season and a 29-0 victory against Miami in the Fiesta Bowl, good enough to earn Dick Tomey’s Wildcats an SI cover touting them as the nation’s top team. Arizona won its first four, but finished 8-4 after a Freedom Bowl loss to Utah. Oregon State can feel Arizona’s pain. This year, the Beavers, coming off an 11-1 season and Fiesta Bowl rout of Notre Dame, made the cover of SI and were touted as the nation’s top team. Oregon State has fallen to 1-3 after last weekend’s loss to Washington State.