MADISON, Wis. – Taking on its second road trip, the University of Hawai'i football team arrived in Madison on Thursday afternoon, and are under 48 hours away from another highly-anticipated meeting with a second non-conference foe from the Big Ten in No. 22 Wisconsin.

A direct flight from Honolulu to Chicago put the Rainbow Warriors in the Central Time Zone for the first time since taking on Rice in Houston last October—just the second appearance in the heartland since 2011, but 37th all-time. The Warriors touched down in "the Windy City" just after 5:00 a.m. on Thursday.
 
Spending the morning in Chicago, UH loaded up the buses at 1:00 p.m. for a two-hour ride up Interstate-90 to Madison, allowing the squad a couple of hours to settle in and unwind before heading to practice at Middleton High School, only six miles from Saturday's venue, Camp Randall Stadium. In transit, the team was treated to a surprise entrée for lunch, traditional Chicago-style deep dish pizza from renowned Lou Malnati's.
 
Arriving at Middleton at 5:00 p.m., the Rainbow Warriors put in a 90-minute practice, continuing their preparation to meet the Badgers on Saturday night. Spirits were high and the team was seen getting pumped up at the beginning of practice via the @HawaiiAthletics Instagram account.

The Warriors will hold a walk-through practice on Friday at Camp Randall, taking in their first visit to the 80,321-seat stadium that is entering its 98th season as the home to the Badgers. The process of acclimating to the five-hour time difference between Hawai'i and Central Daylight Time continues, counting down to a 7:12 p.m. CDT kickoff on Saturday, translating to 2:12 p.m. back in O'ahu.
 
This will be the first game starting after 7:00 p.m. for the Badgers since 2012—in that game, Wisconsin survived against fellow Mountain West conference-mate Utah State, 16-14, after USU missed a 37-yard field goal in the final 10 seconds. UW rallied from a 14-3 deficit in the third quarter, sealing the lead on an 82-yard Kenzel Doe punt return for the go-ahead score.

Game Day Links:
Steaming Video: Cable Subscribers with Big Ten Network Can Watch Online at BTN2go.com
Audio Webcast: www.espn1420am.com
Live Stats: Provided by Wisconsin, Click Here
 
Rainbow Warriors Pursuing 3-1: Although UH was able to attain the 2-1 mark for the first time in the Norm Chow era and first since 2009 in last Saturday's 47-27 win over UC Davis, the 3-1 start has been an elusive one for the Rainbow Warriors. UH opened the 2007 season with 12 straight wins, but the Rainbow Warriors have not come out of the gates with a 3-1 start since the 2002 season. That season under June Jones, UH went 10-4, meeting Tulane in the Hawai'i Bowl. Prior to that, the 'Bows also opened 3-1 in 1999, sharing the WAC title that year. From 1985-1993, UH reached the 3-1 start six times under coaches Dick Tomey and Bob Wagner
 
A Familiar Look: Against the Badgers, the Rainbow Warriors will return to their traditional road uniforms, as worn since the 2012 season. While the new looks are done for now, the response for the latest addition to the game day repertoire was off the charts. The Rainbow Warriors revealed the retro "Rainbow" road uniforms just days before the Ohio State contest. The official release webpage cleared 26,378 hits, while the corresponding YouTube video topped 44,500, plus in excess of 13,000 social interactions followed on Twitter. But will we see the while "Rainbows" again?
 
Familiar Faces on the Field Saturday: Third-year Wisconsin defensive Coordinator Dave Aranda and first-year defensive backs coach Daronte' Jones should look familiar to UH fans, with the pair combining for seven seasons on the staff in Manoa for the Rainbow Warriors.
 
Prior to his arrival in Madison, Aranda was UH defensive coordinator for two seasons and defensive line coach for two more under Greg McMackin. During his final season with the Rainbow Warriors in 2011, Aranda's UH defense led the Western Athletic Conference and was tied for 15th in the FBS in sacks (35). In addition, the 2010 UH defense led the nation in turnovers caused (38), while ranking second in the nation in interceptions (23) and ninth in fumbles recovered (15), as well as tying the school record for most defensive touchdowns (5).
 
Jones coached the defensive backs at UH the past three seasons under coach Norm Chow (2012-14), earning the assistant head coach role in his final season with the Rainbow Warriors.
 
Another Long Week: Opening their road season two weeks ago at Ohio State, the Rainbow Warriors took their longest road swing of the year, flying over 9,000 miles round trip to meet the Buckeyes. Back out for the second time, it's a similar haul, racking up over 8,400 miles in the air, while adding in another 270 on the ground between Madison and Chicago.

Back to the Heartland: This is the seventh all-time meeting between the Badgers, making the Rainbow Warriors the second-most-faced opponent for the Wisconsin since 2000, playing four times in that span. UW has only played UNLV more frequently. This will mark only the second trip for UH to Madison, the first coming in 1987. UW leads the series 5-1, with UH gutting out the series-opening game for a victory in 1986 on a comeback victory at Aloha Stadium, 20-17.

Speaking of '86: Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst was a member of the 1986 team that traveled to Honolulu, a backup quarterback at the time. In addition, Chryst was also the offensive coordinator for UW in the programs' last meeting during the 2009 campaign, aiding the Badgers to a 59-10 victory at Aloha Stadium.
 
Doubling-Up on the Big Ten: Saturday's game marks the fifth time a UH team plays two members of the Big Ten Conference in the same season. Most recently, the Rainbow Warriors did it in consecutive seasons from 2004-2005. Two of the previous seasons have included Wisconsin as well. Across those four years, against Big Ten teams UH has gone: 2-0 twice, 1-1 once and 0-2 twice. This will be the first time both games will be played on the road.
 
A Long Relationship with Big Ten Teams: Most recently meeting Ohio State on Sept. 12 in Columbus, Hawai'i holds an 8-18 record against current members of the Big Ten conference, including Nebraska and Rutgers. In its last eight meetings vs. Big Ten opponents, UH is 3-5 with wins over Northwestern (2004), Michigan State (2004), and Purdue (2006). One of UH's Big Ten victories was grabbed from Wisconsin via a Greg Tipton rushing touchdown in 1986, then UH's first victory over a Big Ten foe.
 
Game Time Set for Broncos: After waiting for the call throughout the summer and fall camp, the kickoff time has been set for the Hawai'i Mountain West Conference opener at Boise State. With an 8:15 p.m. MDT / 4:15 p.m. HT kickoff set, the Broncos and Rainbow Warriors will meet at Albertsons Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 3, marking the sixth time the series comes to Boise, Idaho. The game will air before a national TV audience on ESPN2 (Channels 224 and 1224 in HD on Oceanic Cable, and channels 74 and 1074 in HD on Hawaiian Telcom).