It is way too early to be alarmed about the University of Hawaii men’s basketball team’s fortunes in Big West Conferences.

Or, is it?

While the Rainbow Warriors are only 12.5 percent of the way into their conference season, that 0-2 start sure made for a surprising — and resounding — thud.

After an 11-3 start that was the ‘Bows’ best nonconference mark since 2003-04, this wasn’t the way they were supposed to jump into the Big West, tumbling head over heels.

This is, after all, the 18th-ranked Division I conference, the RPI numbers suggest. Not the Big Ten.

Yet, here the ‘Bows are looking up from the bottom of the eight-member league as they prepare for the home opener Saturday against UC Riverside.

And that’s sobering because the ‘Bows would seem to have too much going for them to ever find themselves in this particular cellar alongside the Highlanders (5-11) and UC Davis (5-12).

UH has the best arena in the conference. It has the largest fan base and access to some of the best competition.

Even when you take travel money out of the equation, the ‘Bows possess the best resources. All the things that help you build a program and separate yourself from envious conference brethren.

In short, there were reasons why we expected the ‘Bows to be immediate contenders. There were grounds for the players and coaches to feel they had been disrespected by being picked sixth in the conference media poll back in October.

For one, they had seemingly upgraded their roster from last year’s fifth-place finish and most signs seemed to point that way after playing Missouri tough on the road and beating Saint Mary’s and Oregon State in the Diamond Head Classic.

Both Big West losses (Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge) came away from home, of course. But when it comes to going on the road, the Big West is the best deal UH could ever hope for. It is practically a Neighbor Island hop compared to the days of the far-flung WAC. No mile-high altitude. No snow flurries. The worst thing about the Big West might be getting backed up on the 405 freeway or bogged down in the drive-through lane at In-and-Out Burger.

Unlike nonconference games, where opponents have limited time to prepare and less than encyclopedic knowledge of your schemes and personnel, in conference everybody knows your strengths and weaknesses. They know enough, for example, to make somebody other than Isaac Fotu, Christian Standhardinger and Garrett Nevels beat them.

The surprise is that in the first week of Big West play nobody else was able to.

That’s something that has to change since the ‘Bows’ only two paths to the postseason without buying their way in, winning the regular-season title for an NIT berth or taking the conference tournament for the automatic NCAA bid, now run through the Big West.

——

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