The University of Hawaii said it is projecting a crowd of “about 28,000” for its football debut Saturday against 25th ranked Washington at Aloha Stadium.

“My guess is probably about 28,000,” athletic director Ben Jay said, citing ticket sales to this point.

Barring a late surge in sales, it would be the smallest turnstile crowd for a Rainbow Warrior football season opener at the 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium in 36 years.

Not since the 1977 opener against New Mexico has UH drawn fewer than 31,500 through the turnstiles at Halawa for a season-opening game.

Kickoff is 4:30 p.m. for a game that will be shown on the CBS Sports Network.

The ‘Bows are 15 1/2-point underdogs on several Las Vegas betting lines.

At a press conference today, UW head coach Chris Petersen said, “They (UH coaches) will have those guys ready to roll, I know that.”