Hawaii waits The Rainbow Classic field is on hold.
on court
A judge's decision will impact
how the Rainbows fill out
the rest of their scheduleBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comSo is that of the Big Island Invitational.
Both the University of Hawaii and Hawaii-Hilo men's basketball programs are waiting on a court ruling that will impact the visiting teams in their respective preseason tournaments. The decision, delayed for nearly a month, is expected to be handed down by an Ohio judge Monday.
At issue is the two-in-four rule that prohibits a team from playing in more than two exempted tournaments in four seasons, tournaments that include the Rainbow Classic, Big Island Invitational and Maui Invitational. A federal judge in Columbus will rule either in favor of the NCAA and the status quo, or rule in favor of lifting the restriction that limits tournament participation.
If the restriction is lifted, it will open the way for the Rainbows and Vulcans to fill pukas in their respective tournaments.
Hawaii sorely needs some higher-profile names to help improve a lackluster schedule and boost the team RPI. The Rainbows, who finished at 87th this past season, have Rainbow Classic commitments from Western Kentucky (37), Butler (41), Colorado (87), George Mason (107) and Texas-Pan American (152) and need two more teams to fill out the field.
Syracuse, Oklahoma, Memphis and Alabama are among the teams that would like to be invited to the Classic should the restriction be lifted.
Of greater concern for Hawaii is the remaining preseason schedule, which currently has no home games between Nov. 24 and Dec. 20. Two of the Rainbows' tournaments include teams that finished last season with RPI between 117 and 282.
If the tournament restriction is lifted, Hawaii has several options. One would be to convince a team participating in the Nov. 25-27 Maui Invitational to extend its trip for a single game on Oahu over Thanksgiving weekend. The Maui field features NCAA Tournament runner-up Indiana, former WAC rival Utah, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Arizona State, Gonzaga and Virginia.
Another option would be for the Rainbows to make a return trip to the Thanksgiving weekend Big Island Invitational, which has been cut from an eight-team format to a four-team round robin. Former Rainbow assistant Jeff Law, the Vulcans head coach, said he is looking for one more team to fill the field that has Utah State, Vermont and UHH.
Hawaii is hoping to pick up three nonconference games to complete a 29-game regular-season schedule. The Rainbows played 11 nonconference games and 18 WAC games prior to the WAC and NCAA tournaments last year.
Currently, Hawaii has eight nonconference games scheduled, including a Dec. 14 date at San Diego State.
A made-for-TV event being discussed by ESPN could mean another game. Hawaii is among four WAC teams that have been invited to what is tentatively being called "Bracket Buster Saturday."
"If it materializes, it would be great for the WAC," said WAC Commissioner Karl Benson. "But it's very, very preliminary."
The 20-team event would pit schools from the so-called "mid-major" conferences, with the matchups and sites based on records and RPI. The premise is to give the mid-majors power rating points in February that would push them off the NCAA Tournament bubble and into the 65-team field.
Five of the 10 games would be televised nationally on ESPN, with the remaining ones on regional television. A tentative schedule has Hawaii playing on either Feb. 15 or 22, likely on the road.
However, those dates conflict with the current WAC schedule, which has Hawaii hosting San Jose State on Feb. 15 and Fresno State on Feb. 22. The Rainbows also are home on Feb. 20 against Nevada.
One possibility would be to switch Hawaii's home and road games with travel partner San Jose State, which is the only game for the Rainbows and Spartans each of those two weeks. This would mean that Hawaii would host San Jose State on Saturday, Jan. 18, and then be at San Jose on Thursday, Feb. 13; this frees up Saturday, Feb. 15, for the ESPN event with the Rainbows already on the mainland.
The other WAC teams involved are Fresno State, Louisiana Tech and Tulsa.
Hawaii, the two-time defending WAC tournament champion, opens its conference season on the road at UTEP on Jan. 2 and Boise State on Jan. 4.
UH Athletics
