Last year, an unprecedented four teams ran the table at home in Big West Conference men’s basketball.

Hawaii would like to do its part to ensure no more than one group — preferably UH itself –accomplishes that feat in 2014.

UH (11-3) departed for California on Tuesday afternoon for its Big West opener at Cal Poly on Thursday. The Rainbow Warriors were to arrive in Los Angeles late Tuesday night and bus a few hours north to San Luis Obispo, arriving early this morning.

Road readiness will be a recurring theme in the first half of the league slate; UH plays four of its first five Big West games on the mainland.

Cal Poly was one of the teams to go 9-0 at home in the Big West last year, along with regular-season champion Long Beach State, UC Irvine and Pacific. Pacific has since departed for the West Coast Conference, creating a 16-game conference schedule among nine teams.

"I’ve never been in a situation like that," UH coach Gib Arnold said of last season’s extreme, league-wide home-court advantage. "One time as a head coach at (College of Southern Idaho) my second year there, we went undefeated at home. That’s a huge advantage. To have (four) teams able to do that is pretty impressive. So hopefully we’ll be one of them this year. You’re going to have to really defend your home court because … it’s real tough to win on the road, anywhere in college basketball. It’s a tough thing to do."

UH went 3-6 on the road in its first season of Big West play, with a three-game road winning streak (UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton) sandwiched between disappointing road finishes at the start and end of league play. The ‘Bows were also one-and-done at the conference tournament in Anaheim, Calif.

These ‘Bows feel their fortunes will be different, thanks to a retooled lineup and an up-tempo style of play.

UH has won nine of its past 10 overall, albeit with a home-heavy schedule. It is 1-1 on the mainland this season, with a competitive 92-80 loss at Missouri (now ranked No. 21) and a 76-66 win at Northern Arizona.

"I think we’re really ready," said sophomore forward Isaac Fotu, who went for a season-high 26 points in UH’s last outing, a 77-73 win over Omaha last Friday. "We’ve been waiting for conference all this time, honestly, and you’ve seen us on the road at NAU, so we can close games out on the road."

After playing in the Mott Gymnasium of Cal Poly (4-9), where UH fell short in two attempts in the past four years, the ‘Bows follow up at Cal State Northridge (8-7) featuring new coach Reggie Theus on Saturday.

"I’ve seen their records, but yeah, it’s zero-zero, you know," senior guard Brandon Spearman said. "So we just gotta go out there, give it our all and get both of these wins on the road."

The ‘Bows moved into the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll this week, checking in at No. 18.