Advertiser Staff
A national sports publication ranks the University of Hawai‘i athletic program 72nd among 115 NCAA Division I-A schools.
The Sporting News gave UH a C-minus overall grade in its recent editions. The publication graded schools in four categories — "Do we win?" "Do we graduate?" "Do we rock (fan support)?" and "Do we play fair?"
The rankings are primarily based upon the performance of just two of the Rainbows’ 17 sports, football and men’s basketball, The Sporting News said. Football was surveyed for the just-completed 2001 season while men’s basketball results came from the 1999-2000 season.
UH was ranked 67th last year, the first season The Sporting News ranked schools.
"I think if they looked at our entire program — all the sports we offer — that would certainly add to our rating," said Hugh Yoshida, UH athletic director.
Yoshida has said the department’s goal is to become a consistent finisher in the top 40 of the Sears Cup.
"I would rather look at the Sears Cup, which covers all sports and where we were tied for 49th coming out of the fall," said Jim Donovan, UH associate athletic director. "As far as The Sporting News, I wish they did a lot more comprehensive list. In this day and age of gender equity, it isn’t very realistic to focus on just two sports to evaluate an entire athletic program."
"We surveyed just those two sports because they are the ones we cover the most extensively," said Steve Gietschier, who compiled the rankings.
In the The Sporting News rankings, Hawai‘i finished in the middle of the Western Athletic Conference.
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