For UH, early wins mean little without WAC success

It is 106 days until the University of Hawaii joins the Big West Conference, if you are counting.

And Rainbow Wahine softball coach Bob Coolen probably is.

With the resounding conference preseason that 18th-ranked UH has had this year — victories over California, Florida State, DePaul, etc. — the Wahine might be a shoo-in for the NCAA tournament if all they did was finish in the top third of what will become an 11-member Big West.

But life in the Western Athletic Conference, where UH is playing its 16th — and final — season beginning next week, has made a pragmatist of Coolen.

"There’s no doubt it doesn’t matter what you do in the preseason if you don’t do well in the WAC," Coolen said. "Doing well" being defined as winning the conference or, at worst, maybe, finishing second.

"We could have gone undefeated in preseason and we’d still be on the bubble if we don’t do well in the WAC, when it comes," Coolen said.

The Rainbow Wahine come by this knowledge the hard way, having been left home last year despite a 37-18 record and being one year removed from the College World Series.

Last year they knocked off two top-10 teams, Stanford and Oklahoma, went 2-3 against top-20 teams overall and played a challenging schedule, sprinkled with nationally prominent teams. But still got bypassed.

"The top 49 got in (to the tournament)," Coolen said. UH was 55th in the NCAA formula.

Their failing was a hiccup in the lightly regarded WAC. They lost three games to Boise State. It was the only pratfall in a regular-season finish that saw them win 11 of the final 15 games. But it was a WAC team "they assumed we should have beaten," Coolen said.

History tells us the Big West has averaged about three representatives per year in the NCAA tournament over the past decade. The WAC about half of that. And the Big West will get a further boost when UH and San Diego State sign on to make it an 11-team circuit.

So while he will relish Thursday night’s triumph over No. 1-ranked Cal in the Chevron Spring Fling Tournament and savor two wins apiece over nationally ranked Florida State and DePaul, Coolen knows that when it comes to carving a place in the NCAA postseason, the Rainbow Wahine have their most telling games ahead of them.

"What’s more important for us is the WAC," Coolen reasons. "The WAC is what makes or breaks us. We can’t end up fourth in the WAC like we did last year and expect to be considered (for the NCAAs). We just can’t."

Even with Brigham Young playing in the WAC this year, Coolen said, "I would not want to live or die on finishing second (in the WAC) and leaving it up to the committee."

What the Rainbow Wahine want to do is ride the momentum and confidence built up in these last couple of months into the WAC. Said Coolen: "We want to take it, have a great conference season, win it and leave, no doubt."

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