Crunch a few numbers and you may be in for a surprise. University of Hawaii sports teams won more games than they lost in 2012-13. And even if the UH baseball and softball squads lose everything the rest of the way, this year is a winning one overall for the UH athletic department on the playing fields.
It is more than reasonable to expect the softball team isn’t done winning yet. With a soft landing in Seattle, where it opens NCAA tournament play Friday against Minnesota (Portland State and host Washington also await), there can be no complaint this time about UH getting messed with by the bracketeers.
The Wahine have muscle memory of victories this season over two of the three regional opponents. The 35-17 Gophers come off a second-place showing in the Big Ten tournament, but this is their first regional since 2003. The Wahine are regular visitors to the postseason.
WINS AND LOSSES
University of Hawaii women’s teams have enjoyed much more success than the men’s teams this year.
| Men |
|
Women |
| Football |
3-9 |
Soccer |
8-9 |
| Basketball |
17-15 |
Basketball |
17-14 |
| Baseball |
12-33* |
Softball |
43-11* |
| Volleyball |
11-17 |
Volleyball |
27-3 |
| Others |
9-15 |
Others |
46-45 |
| Total |
52-89 (.369) |
Total |
141-82 (.632) |
*Games remaining to be played.
Notes: Includes only duel competitions and no ties
|
The only thing that could’ve been better for UH would be hosting, but that went off the table when star pitcher Kaia Parnaby suffered a broken nose last month and the Wahine lost two games they would not have with her in the circle.
Even with that little hiccup, the softball team’s 43-11 record is the biggest reason UH women’s sports have posted a robust .632 winning percentage in 2012-13 — nearly the exact opposite of the men’s .369.
Since there are more women’s sports than men’s and, hence, more outcomes at stake, UH has a winning record of 193-171 overall.
Yes, softball’s excellence coupled with baseball’s disastrous season mean the bat and ball sports skew these numbers, especially since they play so many more games than the other sports.
But how about this: Four of eight women’s sports that play duel competitions have more wins than losses this year, compared with one of six for the men (basketball, which went 17-15). Also, UH won three conference championships in its first year in the Big West … and they are all Wahine: volleyball, water polo and softball.
Trends from last year are encouraging for fans of UH women’s sports, at least on the surface. Four teams improved from last year — most significantly basketball and water polo, which combined to climb 13 1⁄2 games — and the Wahine sports overall went up six games and 23 percentage points from 131-84 and .609.
But the men have fallen 10 1⁄2 games overall from 2011-12, due largely to baseball’s 13-game plummet to this point. The men’s teams were 67-83 overall last year, and it’s not a good thing when you don’t improve upon a .447 winning percentage but keep heading in the wrong direction.
Football’s decline in the standings contributed just 2 1⁄2 games to the total. But we could probably multiply the 3-9 record by 10 and still sell short the impact of the flagship team, and that’s whether we’re talking about public perspective or financial realities.
The football team’s losing record on the front end of the academic year and baseball’s now are the two reasons it is so surprising Hawaii has more wins than losses overall.
The women’s sports were so good they made up for it, and more.
But revenues and expenses are a whole different story.
If football doesn’t get better it will be increasingly difficult to keep most of UH’s other teams afloat, no matter how much they win.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783 or on Twitter at @dave_reardon.
