Seventy seasons ago the University of Hawaii and San Jose State football teams were preparing for another of the close, black-and-blue contests that had come to typify a rising rivalry in which three games had been decided by a total of seven points.

Then, history happened.

Four days after the Spartans’ Dec. 3, 1941 arrival, Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor forced the cancellation of their game but brought them together in ways that strengthened ties between the two schools for decades to come. Players who were preparing to play smashmouth against each other suddenly found themselves enlisting together or working alongside one another as 23 Spartans pitched in to join the war effort from here.

Friday’s nationally televised game in venerable Spartan Stadium marks the diamond 75 years of the association between the two schools, the second-most active Warriors’ series.

Which is why it is a shame there are no current plans or seemingly much of an urgency to continue one of the most competitive and compelling series the Warriors have had over the years.

The Warriors join the Mountain West Conference in 2012 while the Spartans remain in the Western Athletic Conference, the fallout from which might be part of why, you suspect, no games are on the horizon.

The Spartans said their schedules are full in ’12 and ’13 and said, “beyond 2013, San Jose State, like other FBS schools, is dealing with the uncertainty about conference and nonconference schedules. We’re likely to see a number of schools adjusting nonconference schedules to accommodate what must be done if a conference has to add or subtract conference games."

UH says it has approached San Jose State about future contests without success.

If it stays that way, it would be regrettable in a series that has been about as close as you can get. Overall, UH leads 17-16-1, and three of the last four games have been decided by seven points or less, two of them in overtime.

The 2007 battle, a 42-35 overtime comeback victory by UH, was one of the closest, most dramatic episodes in the Warriors’ unbeaten march to the Sugar Bowl.

In 2003, WAC headquarters had to go to the video to certify UH the 13-10 winner in a controversy-filled contest.

And even when the games haven’t been that close, they have at least been action-packed. Witness the 1999 meeting, a 62-41 UH victory, where the two schools combined for an NCAA-record 29 points in a 1-minute, 34-second span of the fourth quarter. So, yes, you could say this has been a series with some fireworks.

Not to mention compelling story lines with Dick Tomey, a former Warriors head coach and UHCircle of Honor inductee, returning to Aloha Stadium as the Spartans’ head coach for a 20-17 win in 2008. And, now, going back to Spartan Stadium as the Warriors’ special teams coach.

UH has only one series, Fresno State, that has been more active and hardly anybody that is a closer reach as the 747 flies. For a lot of reasons this is one association you’d like to see perpetuated, no matter how the conference lines are drawn.

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