Quietly — and unofficially — some at the University of Hawaii say they are expecting the NCAA to lift the postseason ban on its men’s basketball team shortly.

Athletic director David Matlin would only say “I’ve heard we should expect (a decision) soon,” but said he couldn’t say when it would be or if it would be the news the Rainbow Warriors have been waiting for since Oct. 28.

That’s when the NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee sent back to the Committee on Infractions for reconsideration the issue of sanctions against UH. The school has been appealing a ban on postseason play, scholarship reductions and a fine.

“I’ve heard nothing definitive that it (a decision) will be in the next 24 or 48 hours,” Matlin said Monday.

Still, there was some cautious optimism around the Manoa lower campus.

The Rainbow Warriors are scheduled to leave early this afternoon for Sacramento and will play UC Davis on Thursday. They close the regular season Saturday at Long Beach State and, as of Monday, travel plans called for the team to return to Honolulu on Sunday.

With nothing definitive to go on from the NCAA, UH coach Eran Ganot and his staff are keeping those plans flexible.

“Last year we ended up being out three weeks,” Ganot said of that postseason mainland stay. “(This time) on the front end, we’re pretty prepared and organized. On the back end, we’re … prepared in a similar way for the variables that come at us. There were variables last year too, just because you don’t know when your season will end.”

The Big West Conference has set a Saturday deadline for a determination by the NCAA. If none is made by then, UH is expected to take itself out of tournament consideration so as to avoid any chance of a postseason penalty kicking over to next season.

If the NCAA clears the ban, allowing the third-place ’Bows (14-13, 8-6 BWC) to play in the eight-team event starting March 9 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., UH will have a shot at the second repeat conference tournament title in program history (2001, ’02).

“I’ve said all along, I’m really proud of the guys for the way we’ve handled it,” Ganot said. “We’ve gotta keep handling it like we have. The fact that we’ve approached it from Day 1 like we’d be in there, I think has served us well. And why would it change now? So that’s kind of where we’re at. There’s no question you feel it a little bit more and it’s talked about a little bit more as we get towards (it), because look, the reality is the conference tournament’s next Thursday.

“It’s been interesting,” he added.

NCAA officials who have sometimes offered comment in the past have not responded to multiple questions about a determination on UH’s case or a timeline for announcing it.