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Hawaii coach Greg McMackin wasn't shy about showing off the bling.
McMackin proudly wore his 2007 Western Athletic Conference champion ring Monday after the Warriors secured at least a share of the WAC title last weekend with their rout of New Mexico State and Nevada's stunning upset over previously unbeaten Boise State.
''I told my wife this morning that we're WAC champions and I'm going to wear one of my WAC champion rings,'' he said.
The third-year Warriors coach designed the gaudy 2007 ring, and he's already designed this year's hardware.
''It's going to be beautiful,'' he said. ''Let me just say this ... a lot of bling.''
The unexpected rise of No. 25 Hawaii to a WAC championship and a national ranking is as surprising to many as it is satisfying for the Warriors (9-3), who were predicted to finish near the bottom of the WAC in the preseason.
Despite the predictions, criticisms and coming off a losing year, McMackin told his players at the start of this season that they were a special group. And Hawaii set its goals of getting to the postseason and winning the conference.
''Those people don't really know us. All those magazines from the mainland, they don't know us. A lot of people here don't know us. They don't know how hard those players and coaches worked,'' McMackin said.
He said all the adversity last year, including dropping six straight, made the team tougher. And ''that's when this team was made,'' he said.
Now, others are believing, too. The Hawaii Bowl-bound Warriors are ranked for the first time since the 2007 season, when they went 12-0 before losing in the Sugar Bowl.
''I think people are getting respect for us,'' he said. ''I think people are starting to realize we've done all this and we traveled 35,000 miles. It's not like some schools that get on a bus ... These guys have really sacrificed.''
One of the biggest surprises for the pass heavy-Warriors is the emergence of a ground game led by Alex Green, who was named the WAC offensive player of the week on Monday.
The bruising running back racked up a school record 327 yards rushing and three touchdowns in less than three quarters in the Warriors 59-24 victory against the Aggies. In the game, the senior became the first Warrior to break 1,000 yards in a season since 1992.
''It seems a little out of the ordinary especially in this offense, but it happened,'' Green said Monday. ''It's just an honor to say I broke the record and it feels good.''
The senior wasn't aware of his rushing stats until he looked up at the big screen, and noticed he had 240 yards on nine carries. He went on to add 87 more yards.
Green said he's only broken 300 yards rushing once before - sort of.
''On a video game,'' he said. ''Not in real life.''
The Warriors, who host UNLV on Saturday, will share the WAC title with Nevada and Boise State if the Wolf Pack and Broncos win their final conference games, as they are favored to do.
Even if Hawaii ends up sharing the crown, it'll be hard to tell because ''co'' may be omitted in ''co-champions'' in McMackin's final design of the rings.
''Actually, it's too many letters so I think it'll just be 'champions,''' McMackin joked.
