A while back Kansas State’s Bill Snyder offered rookie head coach Norm Chow some sage advice on a key part of turning around a struggling program.

"Control your schedule," the author of the marvel in Manhattan advised.

Clearly that hasn’t happened in Manoa, where a lot was booked in advance. And, all things considered, the Rainbow Warriors are now staring at a contender for the most challenging schedule in the Mountain West Conference this season, according to recently released league schedules.

Between eight bowl teams, including three Pac-12 opponents in the first four games, and a 13-game gauntlet, the ‘Bows have their work cut out for them. There are few Twinkies on this menu.

"We’ll line up and give it a battle," Chow pledged. "I feel good about this team. We’ll be better."

Of course, the ‘Bows were a much more competitive team in ’13 than 2012, too. But, then so was the schedule that led to 1-11.

The 2013 lineup was ranked third-toughest among the 12 Mountain West members, according to an NCAA report.

Among UH schedules, it ranked the second-most-challenging in the past decade. Only the 2008 lineup, coming off the Sugar Bowl season, which included Florida, Oregon State, Washington State, Cincinnati and Sheraton Hawaii Bowl foe Notre Dame, ranked tougher.

But now comes 2014, no Sunday stroll in Ala Moana Park with Washington (9-4), Oregon State (7-6) and Colorado (4-8) wrapped around Football Championship Subdivision member Northern Iowa in the first month.

Throw in Conference USA champion Rice (10-4) in Houston and it is going to take some doing for the ‘Bows to get beyond, say, 4-9.

It is a nonconference lineup that compares among the more daunting in the Mountain West, those lined up by Fresno State and Wyoming.

The Bulldogs play USC (10-4), Utah (5-7), Nebraska (9-4) and FCS foe Southern Utah in nonconference. The Cowboys have Oregon (11-2), Michigan State (13-1), Florida Atlantic (6-6) and FCS Montana.

UH is one of two teams in the Mountain West that will play a 13-game schedule. The other, Utah State, has Wake Forest (4-8), Arkansas State (8-5), Brigham Young (8-5) and Tennessee (5-7).

To put the depth of UH’s challenge in perspective, it helps to remember that the ‘Bows haven’t beaten a fellow FBS member with a winning (season) record since early 2011, a string of 17 consecutive foes. 

As daunting as the 2014 schedule appears, consider it a warm-up for what awaits in 2015 and ’16. That’s when Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan and Kansas on the road and Colorado at Aloha Stadium await UH.

Something Snyder might have failed to mention was that the Wildcats had the wherewithal to purchase their way out of some of those types of games. Not the necessity of buying into them.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.