Many college football teams, particularly those outside the so-called Big Five conferences, begin their seasons with two games on the road.

But there is the road, and then there is the road when you are Hawaii.

This year, the Rainbow Warriors will kick off their season a week before the rest of college football, with a game against California on Friday night in Sydney, Australia (although in Sydney, the game will be at noon Saturday). The next week has Hawaii playing Michigan — nine times zones away, at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

But that is only the start. Hawaii will travel away from — and back to — Honolulu for at least seven games, racking up almost 50,000 miles of air travel.

“When you’re in the middle of the Pacific,” Athletic Director David Matlin said, “every trip is a long way.”