The University of Hawaii’s football game at Wisconsin today is the middle point on the most arduous road trek in the Rainbow Warriors’ history.

Well, at least until next season.

For all the mileage (23,008) to be covered in going to Ohio State, Wisconsin and, next week, Boise State (with a home game against UC Davis wedged in among them) in the space of 25 days, it might be just a warm-up to what UH is looking at for next year.

UH has something more ambitious on the drawing board for 2016. If approved — and most signs point to the likelihood of a deal — UH would play the University of California in Sydney, Australia; Michigan in Ann Arbor; and Arizona in Tucson, a 25,000-plus-mile trek in the space of 26 days. Squeezed in among them would be a home game with Tennessee-Martin.

After which UH would still have four Mountain West Conference road games and another 17,000 miles, taking it up to about 42,000 for the 2016 regular season and surpassing the record 40,122 of 2015.

To put it into perspective, not only is it more air miles than anybody in the NFL will travel either season, it is double what most of the pro teams will cover.

UH has long sought to take one of its football games international, but so far it has gotten no closer than a commanding view of the U.S.-Mexico border when playing at Texas-El Paso, whose Sun Bowl is on a mesa overlooking Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Australia, meanwhile, has been the preferred destination since the 1990s, and at least twice previously plans have been in the works to head to Sydney or Melbourne only to fall through in the latter stages.

But UH and Cal officials are optimistic this one could actually happen.

The rumored financial figures are such that UH could make the trip and come back with some money in its pockets. In addition, the trip is envisioned as a "bowl-type" experience for the players.

Moreover UH sees Australia as prime recruiting territory not only for football players, but in a dozen other sports. And the time would, no doubt, help spread the UH brand and Hawaii tourism banner.

The potential hold-ups are NCAA approval to open the season early (Aug. 27 is the date mentioned), missed class time early in the semester and the wear and tear on the players.

UH, with Mountain West Conference sponsorship, already has legislation pending for an addendum to the Hawaii Exemption.

Ideally, UH could mitigate some of the concerns about missed class time and travel by moving one of its early road games to create an open date, as Cal proposes to do with South Dakota State, its scheduled Sept. 3 foe.

But the Rainbow Warriors are in a tighter, cash-driven bind. Their Sept. 3 opponent is Michigan, and that game comes with a $1 million check for cash-strapped UH. The Sept. 17 game at Arizona carries a $500,000 payday.

It is doubtful coach Norm Chow will use it as a rallying cry today or next week at Boise, but he could tell his players, "Ah, all this traveling so far is nothing, wait ’til you see the schedule we’re working on for next year."

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