UTEP no longer a minor concern
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Columnist
Nevada was much more highly regarded, Louisiana Tech involved a more arduous journey, Southern Methodist was colder and San Jose State had cast a longer spell.
But when it comes to potentially the most dangerous opponent the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team has run up against since the Western Athletic Conference opener, look no further than tonight's adversary, Texas-El Paso.
It would behoove the Rainbow Warriors not to look past UTEP in their 7:05 p.m. homecoming at the Stan Sheriff Center, for several reasons.
If history has taught us about the Rainbows over the years, it is that land mines lurk in the schedule where they are usually least expected and UH has a habit of being most vulnerable just when it thinks it has it made.
For all the buildup that annually goes into games with Tulsa, Fresno State and the like, it has too often been the overlooked teams, the seeming lesser lights, that end up biting the 'Bows.
Who would have thought that San Jose State, of all teams, would stand between UH and a return to the NCAA Tournament last year?
The Spartans won just four WAC games (against 14 losses) last year but, maddeningly, two of them came at UH's expense. Not too long ago San Diego State pulled the rug out from under the Rainbows. And, with the Rainbows rolling, nobody saw either of them coming.
There is a name for these types of opponents — "trap door" games. And tonight's fits the profile.
The Rainbows are feeling pretty good right now, perhaps even invulnerable, after the first three-game WAC road trip sweep in school history and a four-game winning streak. They return home to find a team they've had their way with over the last two seasons.
Indeed, before the start of this season, this was one you could have projected into the win column and felt pretty confident about. The Miners, after all, were coming off a 6-24 season and were picked by some of the finest minds of our time, the WAC coaches and media, to finish ninth in a 10-team conference.
But the Miners have managed a major turnaround going 12-3, including a 72-58 spanking of Fresno State and a 79-76 win at Nevada. No longer should they be capable of sneaking up on anybody. If that isn't a warning to be heeded, then maybe this should be: Oddsmakers have installed UH as just a 3 1/2-point favorite.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.
