For the better part of the past decade it seemed like Hawaii and San Diego State were in a race to see which Mountain West team could resolve its football stadium mess first.

And neither seemed to be moving with a sense of urgency.

If you knew little else and looked only at the locations of where the teams are playing their home games this season — including where they meet this Saturday here on Oahu — you might guess Hawaii made it to the finish line first.

The Rainbow Warriors, for the first time ever, are playing at an on-campus facility.

Meanwhile, the Aztecs have been commuting to and from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif., for their home games this year. That’s 111 miles, each way.

It hasn’t seemed to bother the Aztecs much. They are 7-1, their only loss coming last week at Carson, against Fresno State (which had just a little bit longer trip to get there). And, starting with its 2022 season opener Sept. 3 against Arizona, SDSU will once again play home games just a couple of miles away from its main campus, at a spiffy new 35,000-seat (expandable to 55,000) facility at the same location most of us remember as Jack Murphy or Qualcomm Stadium. It opened in 1967, and was also home to the San Diego Chargers.

It was built when a “multi-use” stadium meant it could be used for football or baseball. The same was true for Aloha Stadium, which was UH’s home from 1975 through last season.

Now, though, a new multi-use stadium likely means it is suited for football and soccer.

That’s one of the hopes Hawaii state senator Glenn Wakai has for a new Aloha Stadium, which is slated to be built sometime this millennium in Halawa, at the site of the old one, about 10 miles from campus.

Wakai and Aloha Stadium Authority board members Ross Yamasaki, Mike Iosua and Kaui Burgess were scheduled to meet with USL officials in Tampa today to discuss the possibility of a pro soccer franchise in Hawaii, playing at a new Aloha Stadium.

“That’s the holy grail,” Wakai said. “Getting an entity like the USL.”

Stadium officials have also courted professional rugby.

“If we have two tenants, and including UH, the stadium can be a profit center,” Wakai said.

There’s a slight problem with that, though. The group can’t put forth much in the way of firm proposals because it doesn’t know when there will be a new Aloha Stadium. Considering the pace things are going at, it’s no wonder some people say “if” instead of “when.”

Three former Hawaii governors wrote a joint open letter last week recommending that the new Aloha Stadium concept, which includes a surrounding entertainment district, be scrapped. They say the financial and land resources should instead be used to develop affordable housing, and that the Warriors can continue on at their on-campus facility that was at first considered a stop-gap measure.

“Nothing’s on the table,” said Wakai, of official proposals to tenants. “We can’t guarantee that the (new Aloha) stadium will be done by 2025. We’re just trying to show (the USL) that we are serious and Hawaii has a lot to offer.”

The old Aloha Stadium hasn’t been demolished yet, and football games are still being played there by high school teams.

UH could have played its games there this season, without spectators. But because it turned a glorified practice field into the 9,000-seat, ready-for-intercollegiate-football Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex in just a few months, the Rainbow Warriors are headed into their fourth game at the field they can walk to from their dorm rooms.

More seating is scheduled before next season, bringing Ching’s capacity up to the NCAA Division I minimum of 15,000. But will that be enough, and how big a stadium can lower campus handle?

Saturday’s game will be the first where the facility’s viability is truly tested, as full capacity will be allowed for the first time. Here is where we should note that while it’s a very good idea to get there early, UH has had more than 9,000 fans on campus before, many times for volleyball and a few times for basketball at the Stan Sheriff Center.

As long as the fortunate fans who get tickets all show up Saturday, there will be a full house to see the Warriors tangle with the Aztecs at what is UH’s home field, at least for now.

The only thing we really know about the future for the Warriors is they won’t have to play at a stadium 111 miles from campus.