It’s nice that ‘Bows have Wallace in their corner

If you are Riley Wallace, your position as selection committee chair for the Collegeinsider.com Tournament offers some cathartic opportunities as we run up to March Madness.

There is satisfaction that can come from making somebody’s season by offering a postseason berth as he did last year — and is prepared to do again — for the University of Hawaii men’s basketball team.

Win at least 17 games this season, Wallace suggested Wednesday, and the Rainbow Warriors will have a place to play in the postseason should all else fail.

"It is not etched in stone, but 17 would be a good number for them to have," Wallace said.

If it isn’t the first postseason tournament "guarantee" in UH basketball history, it is definitely the earliest. And very much within reach for a team that is 15-11 (6-4 WAC) with four regular-season games remaining, including today’s appearance at New Mexico State, plus the WAC tournament.

Of course, Job One for UH, along with the other 343 schools in Division I, is getting into the NCAA Tournament. For the ‘Bows, that is achieved this year only by winning the WAC tournament and the automatic NCAA berth that goes with it. Something UH hasn’t managed in nine seasons.

Failing that, there is the NIT, which has eluded UH for seven years and would require the ‘Bows win the WAC regular-season title.

So, the prospect of a CIT bid is a comforting thing to have in your back pocket as the season winds down. So, too, is having a godfather of sorts as chair of the selection committee.

To be sure, Wallace would have welcomed either during a 20-year run as the ‘Bows head coach. Remarkably, as it was, he guided UH to three NCAA Tournament appearances and six NIT showings.

In those days (1987-88 through 2006-07) there was no CIT or its rival, the College Basketball Invitational, as buy-in events to expand the postseason pool.

There were just the 96 postseason openings of the NCAA and NIT — or sitting home. And the ‘Bows did some of the latter, too, often chafing over perceptions of an NIT snub.

But with the birth of 16-school CBI in 2008 and the 24-team CIT a year later plus the expansion of the NCAA, there are now 140 spots to be filled. Which means about 40 percent of the teams playing on the Division I level find a ticket to the postseason.

In the current environment, Wallace would have likely had at least three more postseason opportunities.

"There were times when we were very disappointed because we thought we were good enough for the postseason and didn’t get in," Wallace said. "It was disappointing for those kids not to have something else to play for and for the fans."

Which is a good part of why, five years later, Wallace finds gratification in being able to offer UH a way to the postseason, should it be necessary.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.