Prior to a recent practice, it was brought to Eran Ganot’s attention that this month marks 20 years since Hawaii knocked off No. 2 Kansas in the Rainbow Classic championship game, the school’s biggest upset in terms of opponent ranking.

The UH coach — who processes program history like a kid devours ice cream — couldn’t help but smile.

Can, then, the Rainbow Warriors eat their fill with a beast like No. 6 Miami opposite them in the first round of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, the spiritual successor to the old eight-team Rainbow Classic?

“We don’t want to think of it as crazy things,” Ganot said. “That’s the whole deal. That’s what you see in the country every year. There’s a lot of great teams everywhere. There’s a lot of things that can happen on a night. You’re talking about the history of the game, history of this event. Of the tournaments around this time, and also the history of our program.”

UH (7-2) came close two years ago, losing to No. 3 Oklahoma by three in the 2015 Diamond Head semis. The ’Bows even hung with No. 5 North Carolina, the eventual national champion, in a stand-alone game last season before withering late.

They must muster some serious holiday magic if they are to make this year their first DHC championship. But like always in the DHC, the ’Bows get to play on their home floor three times in four days, capped off on Christmas Day.

Miami (9-0) of the ACC is incredibly balanced on offense but truly elite defensively, holding foes to 56.3 points and 34.7 percent shooting from the field. Both figures rank second nationally. Meanwhile, UH has often struggled to shoot from the perimeter (27.9 percent).

“Our coaches have stressed that every game is a championship game,” co-captain Mike Thomas said. “That last game (a 70-69 win over Utah Valley on Sunday) was played as a championship game. We gotta have the same mentality for this one. We can’t think that because it’s on TV we gotta show up. We gotta still play as a team and beat a team the way we know how to beat a team.”

The two most prominent teams in the eight-team field, Miami and USC, were included in an FBI preseason report of alleged widespread recruiting and player benefits violations.

While USC, a preseason top-12 team, has stumbled — it lost an assistant coach and a prominent player was just declared ineligible — Miami has so far carried on unscathed.

“We’re just focused on playing one game at a time, one opponent at a time,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said when asked whether off-court distractions have affected his team. “My staff does a great job of preparing our players and our players do a great job of executing the game plan. We’re just going to continue to do that.”

In 2012, the Shane Larkin-led Hurricanes opened the DHC with a 73-58 win over UH then dropped their next two games to finish fourth.

“Playing Hawaii on their home court is going to be a challenge,” Larranaga said. “They’re very good at getting to the foul line (28.2 attempts per game), one of the very best teams in the country at drawing fouls. We’re going to have to keep them off the foul line.”

UH’s best finish to date in the DHC is third, twice.

AKRON ZIPS (6-2)

Conference: Mid-American

Big games: at Dayton, 73-60 L; at Marshall, 86-64 L; Fort Wayne, 83-79 W

Top players: Daniel Utomi, 20.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 50.0 3FG%; Malcolm Duvivier, 12.6 ppg, 4.6 apg; Jimond Ivey, 11.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg

First-year coach John Groce: “We’re a work in progress. We’ve gotten better in a lot of areas, but we’re not consistent enough yet to be a good basketball team in my opinion. We’re working on our mental and physical approach to every moment that we play. … It’s a new staff, a new system, new terminology … but I enjoy working with them.”

Notes: The Zips, who have 12 straight 21-win seasons, went 1-2 for fourth in the 2013 DHC. Duvivier played for Oregon State in that game, scoring three points against his future team. Groce was Illinois coach when the Fighting Illini beat UH 78-77 in overtime, then went on to win the 2012 Maui Invitational. Utomi, a sophomore, is fourth in the NCAA is 3s per game (4.0).

DAVIDSON WILDCATS (4-4)

Conference: Atlantic 10

Big games: at Nevada, 81-68 L; vs. No. 11 North Carolina, 85-75 L; at No. 16 Virginia, 80-60 L

Top players: F Peyton Aldridge, 21.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 3.8 apg; G Jon Axel Gudmundsson, 16.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.5 apg; G Kellan Grady, 13.9 ppg

Twenty-ninth-year head coach Bob McKillop: “I need us to get better on a consistent basis. As a result of that, when we return home, we’re ready for conference play. It’s a tough conference, the Atlantic 10. This is our last chance to get ready for it, so to speak, our last laboratory. So, before the ‘final exams’ start, we got a couple ‘mid-terms’ we gotta take.”

Notes: Stephen Curry’s alma mater leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.18), is second in 3-pointers per game (12.5) and third in assists (19.9). In the season opener against Charleston Southern, the Wildcats drilled an A-10 record 26 treys. Aldridge, Gudmundsson and Grady account for 63.4 percent of the team’s offense. McKillop is the fourth-longest tenured coach in D-I.

HAWAII RAINBOW WARRIORS (7-2)

Conference: Big West

Big games: Troy, 72-67 W; Nevada, 67-54 L; at Utah, 80-60 L

Top players: F Mike Thomas, 12.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 52.7 FG%; F/C Gibson Johnson, 10.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg; G Brocke Stepteau, 9.1 ppg, 61.0 FG%

Third-year coach Eran Ganot: “You only get one life. Our guys live for challenges. They’ll be prepared, they’ll be ready. We’ve seen a lot of different styles this time of year. It’s an opportunity for us to learn and grow. … There’s a reason these teams are in this field, a reason they are good. They’re all going to be prepared.”

Notes: UH is 13-11 in the eight previous years of the DHC. Against this year’s field, the Rainbows are a combined 11-50, with USC (6-31) and New Mexico State (4-15) skewing it heavily. The last time UH beat a ranked team in the regular season was No. 14 Xavier in the 2011 Diamond Head consolation semifinals. … Forward Jack Purchase is 11th nationally in A/T ratio (4.14).

MIAMI HURRICANES (9-0)

Conference: Atlantic Coast

Big games: at No. 12 Minnesota, 86-81 W; vs. Princeton, 80-52 W; at George Washington, 59-50 W

Top players: C Dewan Huell, 13.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 64.1 FG%; G Bruce Brown Jr., 10.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 4.8 apg; G DJ Vasiljevic 11.6 ppg, 41.1 3FG%

Seventh-year coach Jim Larranaga: “We have five guys averaging double figures. That was intentional. We try to share the ball a lot. We’ve got a lot of different weapons, inside and outside. We’re at our best when we have multiple guys on the attack and scoring at a high rate. … The biggest challenge is our youth, four sophomores and four freshmen.”

Notes: The Hurricanes are off to their best start to a season since the 2007-08 squad opened 12-0. Seven of nine of The U’s opponents have been held under 60 points. Of 360 minutes in their season, the Hurricanes have led for 310 minutes, 54 seconds (86 percent) and have yet to trail in a second half. Freshman guard Lonnie Walker IV is averaging 17 points off the bench in the last three games.

MIDDLE TENNESSEE BLUE RAIDERS (7-2)

Conference: Conference USA

Big games: at Vanderbilt, 66-63 W; Ole Miss, 77-58 W; vs. Auburn, 76-70 L

Top players: F Nick King, 22.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 53.2 FG%; F Brandon Walters, 12.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 60.6 FG%; G Giddy Potts, 12.3 ppg, 2.1 spg

Sixteenth-year coach Kermit Davis: “Our team I think will eventually have a lot better balance. Our perimeter, Giddy Potts is starting to get going. I think our perimeter can play much better. But I like our team, where we are. We lost some really good players from last year’s team. So proud of where we are and looking forward to seeing how our team stacks up against the field out here.”

Notes: MTSU of Murfreesboro was the C-USA preseason favorite after winning 31 games and going to the NCAA round of 32 last March. The Raiders won regular-season tournament titles in 2015 (Great Alaska Shootout) and 2016 (Challenge in Music City). King is 12th nationally in scoring after taking a graduate transferal from Alabama. MTSU has gotten 40-plus percent of its scoring from transfers in 13 of Davis’ 16 seasons.

NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES (9-2)

Conference: Western Athletic

Big games: at No. 21 Saint Mary’s, 92-74 L; at New Mexico, 65-62 W; vs. Illinois, 74-69 W

Top players: G Zach Lofton, 19.5 ppg, 53.1 FG%; F Jemerrio Jones, 10.7 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 3.2 apg; G AJ Harris, 10.6 ppg, 3.2 apg

First-year coach Chris Jans: “The guys who’ve stuck around are in their third coaching system in three years. Three ways of doing business. If you told me in the fall we’d be 9-2, I’d have taken it and ran with it. We had some rough patches in the fall, getting everybody on the same page. … But they came together, we’ve grown as a team and we’re in a good position right now.”

Notes: NMSU is the only remaining WAC team from UH’s days in that conference. Lofton, a former SWAC player of the year at Texas Southern, trails only MTSU’s Nick King for scoring among graduate transfers. The senior Jones had a 10-point, 11-rebound, 11-assist triple-double against Eastern New Mexico on Dec. 12, becoming the first Aggie to accomplish that feat since Daniel Mullings against UH on Feb. 23, 2012.

PRINCETON TIGERS (5-6)

Conference: Ivy League

Big games: at Butler, 85-75 L; vs. No. 10 Miami, 80-52 L; at USC, 103-93 OT W

Top players: G Devin Cannady, 18.8 ppg, 47.6 3FG%, 91.4 FT%; G/F Myles Stephens, 16.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 54.7 FG%

Eighth-year coach Mitch Henderson: “Two weeks ago (our players) were 2-6 and listening a lot less than I would want them to. And now we’ve got a little bit of momentum, and hopefully we keep that going. But the identity of the group is always, and has been, our defense. We get a lot of notoriety for the (Princeton) offense, but it’s always been our defense.”

Notes: The only team in the field with a losing record went to USC on Tuesday and won by 10 in overtime; those teams might meet again on the second day here. Princeton, a replacement for Utah State in the field, came out for the Pearl Harbor Invitational last year, losing to Cal and beating Hawaii before running the table in Ivy League play. Princeton is elite shooting the 3, at .404.

USC TROJANS (6-4)

Conference: Pacific-12

Big games: No. 16 Texas A&M, 75-59 L; at SMU, 72-55 L; vs. Oklahoma, 85-83 L

Top players: F Chimezie Metu, 18.5 ppg, 8.3 rpg; F Bennie Boatwright, 15.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg; G Jordan McLaughlin 14.4 ppg, 8.1 apg

Fifth-year coach Andy Enfield: “It’s been challenging. … (On the FBI investigation) You can only control certain things in life, and within a basketball program. Our players have to control what they can control. That’s go to class, do their best academically, try to work on their game and be the best teammate they can. We’re proud of our players, they’ve done that, and they have to keep getting better.”

Notes: It’s all about missed time and opportunities for the talented Trojans. De’Anthony Melton hasn’t played yet this season and was just declared ineligible. Boatwright and guard Jonah Matthews are day to day after recent injuries, while Derrick Thornton was out the last five games with a shoulder problem. The Trojans won the first Diamond Head Classic in 2009, beating UNLV 67-56 in the championship. Ex-UH coach Gib Arnold was an assistant on that team, while future UH center Davis Rozitis was a reserve.