The college basketball offseason is here, and we decided to have some fun over the next few months, ranking ALL 364 teams in D1. Number 157 is Hawaii basketball.
Before you say we’re crazy – or that all of this is up for debate, let’s go over the very intricate process of how we came to this conclusion. We took a very statistical approach – with the help of Chat GPT – taking into consideration everything from March Madness wins and finishes, to AP Poll appearances, to conference players of the year. And then, a good friend of ours, Scott Blanchard, took our approach to the MAX.
Click here to visit the FIRST article, which explains how the formula works!
Here’s the breakdown of Hawaii basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 1
- Bids: 6
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 15.8
- Bids per season: 0.11
- AP Polls: 16
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 4
- Conference Players of the Year: 2
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 3
- Conference tournament titles: 5
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Hawaii basketball
What could be better than living in Hawaii and playing college basketball? Luckily for the Rainbow Warriors, that has also translated to a lot of wins, with an all-time winning percentage of .536 in Division I.
Very early on, in the 1970s, Hawaii hoops was a tough team to play. In 1971-72, they went 23-4, made the NCAA Tournament, and were ranked as high as 12th in the country. Star forward Bob Nash averaged 18.2 points and 14.4 rebounds per game before going ninth overall in the NBA Draft and playing four seasons. Right after Nash left, Tom Henderson came in and had Hawaii back to being nationally ranked in 1973-74. He had a long pro career, winning an NBA Championship with the Washington Bullets in 1978.
The late 1970s and 1980s weren’t as kind to Hawaii, but they’d find life under head coach Riley Wallace. He took the job in 1987 and stayed until 2007, going 349-292 as the coach. The Rainbow Warriors won a pair of WAC regular season titles and went to three NCAA Tournaments under Wallace. None ended in wins, but once again, in some seasons, Hawaii even found itself ranked nationally.
Currently, Eran Ganot is running the show and has led them to the big dance in 2016 (his first season) and 2026 (this past season). In 2016, Hawaii upset 4-seed Cal for its first-ever win in the NCAA Tournament. And along the way, Ganot has won 195 games with the program, with just two losing seasons in 10 years.
For Hawaii, that has been the motto. They are a program that has reached some awesome heights, especially in the regular season, appearing in 16 AP Polls across many different decades. March Madness success and pro talent have been limited, but there are still players to brag about, and it all adds up great for the Rainbow Warriors.