It was 12 degrees with heavy snowfall near the Ohio University campus yesterday.

Not that it mattered to the Ohio men's basketball team, which was busy snorkeling at Hanauma Bay under a blue sky with temperatures in the 80s.

"Coming to Hawai'i is better than any anti-depressant a doctor can give out during the winter," Ohio head coach Tim O'Shea said. "Just being here is uplifting, and you hope it plays out on the basketball court, too."

The Bobcats are one of seven visiting teams looking to bond — and win games — this week during the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic.

The four-day tournament will start tomorrow with two games at the Stan Sheriff Center. Ohio will play St. John's at 5 p.m., followed by host Hawai'i and Louisiana-Lafayette at 7:30.

There are no Top 25 teams in this year's field, but there also appears to be no clear-cut favorite.

"This will be one of those tournaments where every game is going to be a battle," St. John's head coach Norm Roberts said.

Saint Mary's, which dropped out of the Top 25 yesterday after being ranked No. 24 last week, has a case for consideration as the team to beat. The Gaels are 7-1, with the only loss at Southern Illinois.

But Georgia — 6-1 with the only loss at Wisconsin — also has a case.

Saint Mary's will play Tulane on Thursday at 5 p.m., followed by Georgia and East Tennessee State at 7:30.

There is also the home team, which is 17-1 in the last six Rainbow Classics.

"I think you always have to look at Hawai'i because they're so tough to beat at home," East Tennessee State head coach Murry Bartow said. "But this truly looks like a tournament where every team is capable of winning the whole thing."

Another contender could be St. John's, which is 4-2, and left New York just before a winter storm hit the East Coast. Now, the Red Storm is hoping to create its own havoc in Hawai'i.

St. John's had one of the top recruiting classes in the country, and seven freshmen are seeing significant action.

"We have a young team, and that's one of the reasons why we wanted to come out here," Roberts said. "We think it's a good way to bring the team together and improve."

St. John's could also be dangerous because of the expected return of Anthony Mason Jr. The 6-7 junior forward has played just one game this season because of an injured ankle. He averaged 11.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season.

"We're going to test our chemistry," Roberts said.

Ohio came straight to Honolulu from an 88-51 road loss at No. 3 Kansas. But three days before that, the Bobcats won at Maryland, 61-55.

"You like to think that every game helps you get ready for the next one," O'Shea said. "I don't know if anybody is going to beat Kansas this year, so I don't think that coming here off of that game will hurt us."

ETSU's Bartow has been to the Rainbow Classic as a player, assistant coach and head coach. He said each of his teams have improved after the Classic. He specifically pointed to his 2003-04 ETSU team that placed sixth in the 2003 Rainbow Classic.

"We went back home and won 16 straight and ended up in the NCAA Tournament," Bartow said. "I don't think there's a better tournament in the country than this one that gets your team ready for the rest of the season. Every game is competitive, but you also give your players a chance to experience things like the beach, Pearl Harbor, whatever it may be, that brings them together as a team."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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