The Hawaii men’s basketball team faces Auburn of the Southeastern Conference in the first round of the 2011 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Dec. 22, ESPN announced on Wednesday.
In the other three first-round matchups, Long Beach State faces Xavier, UTEP plays Clemson and Kansas State faces Southern Illinois.
"A chance to play an SEC team, I think it’s a great opportunity for us at home," UH coach Gib Arnold said. "Anytime you can get a Pac-10, Big Ten or SEC team to come to Hawaii, it’s great. We won’t be predicted to win it; that’s OK, we understand that. … There’s no easy team in that tournament."
In the second round on Dec. 23, UH will face either Xavier of the Atlantic 10 Conference or Long Beach State of the Big West Conference. Both are expected to contend for league titles. Xavier came back to defeat Hawaii 70-58 in UH’s last trip to the NCAA Tournament, in 2002.
UH’s lone previous meeting with Auburn was an 84-57 loss in 1998, a down season (6-20) for the Rainbow Warriors.
Last season, UH went 19-13 while Auburn was 11-20. The Tigers had one of the youngest teams in the country and figure to come back more experienced under second-year coach Tony Barbee.
"It’s an SEC team, so they’re going to be very good, very athletic," Arnold said.
UH is guaranteed three nationally televised games in the tournament, which finishes on Christmas Day. Eleven of the 12 matchups will be on either ESPNU or ESPN2.
The full 2011-12 UH basketball schedule has yet to be released.
