SEATTLE — It has been cold and rainy in the slate-skied Pacific Northwest of late, typical November weather and the kind that can make people from Hawai'i think about home in a hurry.

Especially if you are a college football player with a shot at an all-expenses-paid ticket home for the holidays.

"I mean, that would be great if we get to come home for our last game," said defensive tackle Donny Mateaki, one of three University of Washington seniors from Hawai'i eyeing an opening in the Christmas Eve Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl.

This year, for the first time, the bowl has a tie-in with the Pacific-10 Conference to bring a representative to Aloha Stadium, where it will be paired with the University of Hawai'i. In its first four seasons of operation, the Hawai'i bowl matched representatives from the Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA.

As many as five schools — Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, Washington and Washington State — have shots at the Hawai'i Bowl slot but none with a bigger delegation of Hawai'i players than the Huskies, who have six. Four have started on the defensive line: Mateaki, Wilson Afoa, Brandon Ala and Daniel Te'o-Nesheim.

While Washington coaches aren't talking much about bowls — and don't figure to until they become bowl-eligible — the possibilities aren't far from the minds of the Hawai'i players.

"Oh, yeah, we talk about if we can go home," said Mateaki, an 'Iolani School graduate. "That would be cool."

With two games remaining, the Huskies (4-6) need to beat Stanford (0-9) this week and rival Washington State (6-4) in two weeks to have a shot at the trip to Hawai'i. "That is one of the things that is motivating us" to finish strong, Mateaki said.

Three Pac-10 teams, California (8-1), Southern California (7-1) and Oregon (7-2) are already bowl eligible with winning seasons and Oregon State (6-3) and Washington State (6-4) are a victory away. Those schools are likely headed toward one of the five other bowls (Rose, Holiday, Sun, Las Vegas or Emerald) that the conference is contracted to send a representative to.

Arizona (4-5), ASU (5-4) and UCLA (4-5) each have three games remaining.

The Hawai'i Bowl is to receive the sixth pick and, under NCAA rules, could accept a 6-6 team if there are none with winning records available. In case there are more than enough teams to fill the conference's bowl commitments and there is a tie in the standings, the Hawai'i Bowl can choose which school it wants. Tie-breaking procedures exist only for the Rose Bowl.

Should the Pac-10 fail to produce enough teams, Conference USA then gets the next shot at sending a team, officials said.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com.