'Bows may take part in ESPN event
By Dayton Morinaga and Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writers
The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team has been asked by the Western Athletic Conference to keep a February date open on its 2002-03 schedule for a new made-for-ESPN event.
The Rainbow Warriors and three other WAC teams have agreed to participate in what is tentatively being called "Bracket Busters" by ESPN.
The event would feature 20 teams — four each from the WAC, Mid-American Conference and Missouri Valley Conference, two each from the West Coast Conference and Big West Conference, and four yet to be chosen teams from "mid-major" conferences.
Each team will play one game against a team from a different conference. Matchups and sites will be determined in late January based on rankings, records and Rating Percentage Index (RPI). Hawai'i will play its game on either Feb. 15 or 22.
Five of the 10 games are scheduled to be televised on ESPN, and the WAC teams have been guaranteed to appear in at least two of those five.
Pete Derzis, senior vice president for ESPN Regional Television (ERT), said the venture is, "still in the conceptual stages."
"I think it's a great idea," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "At that time of year, you need to get some national exposure to help with your chances for the NCAA (Tournament), and this is a good chance for that."
According to WAC commissioner Karl Benson, the four chosen WAC teams are Hawai'i, Tulsa, Louisiana Tech and Fresno State.
The rest of the field has not been determined, but possibilities include several participants from last season's NCAA Tournament: Kent State from the MAC, Southern Illinois and Creighton from the MVC, Gonzaga and Pepperdine from the WCC, and UC Santa Barbara from the Big West.
Butler, Western Kentucky and Princeton have been mentioned as possibilities for the four open spots.
"The opportunity is there to play a quality opponent, and that can only help your RPI," Wallace said.
Benson said the network is interested in compelling interconference matchups at a time of the year when most teams are locked into conference play.
The only potential problem for Hawai'i could be scheduling. All 10 games in the "Bracket Busters" will take place at separate home sites, so there is a possibility that the 'Bows will have to travel to the mainland for one game in the middle of their WAC season.
"It's a chance you have to take," Wallace said. "This is something that will be important to our program and the entire (WAC). We'd prefer to play at home, but if we have to (travel) we'll go."
The rest of the UH schedule is pending because a ruling on exempted tournaments has yet to be announced. Tournament organizers are hoping to eliminate the "two and four" rule, which limits teams to two exempted tournaments — such as the Maui Invitational, Preseason NIT and Rainbow Classic — every four years.
Tournament organizers want teams to be able to participate in such tournaments every year.
If the "two and four" rule is eliminated, several "name" schools would be able to play in the Rainbow Classic in December. Six of the eight teams in the Rainbow Classic field have already been set: Hawai'i, Bradley, Butler, Colorado, Texas-Pan American and Western Kentucky.
Oklahoma, Memphis and Alabama have expressed interest in participating, but only if the rule is eliminated.
