During his summers as a University of Hawaii player, Nick Rolovich would thumb curiously through the preseason football magazines at a Manoa-area convenience store.
These days, as the Rainbow Warriors’ rookie head coach, not so much.
For one thing, “I’ve got a lot of other things to do with this team right now,” Rolovich said.
For another, the projections for the Rainbow Warriors aren’t all that comforting.
Of the early arrivals on the newsstands, none of the magazines pick UH to escape the West Division cellar of the Mountain West Conference. The Sporting News, Lindy’s and Athlon all tab UH sixth in the six-team division.
PRESEASON PICKS
(How the magazines see the Mountain West)
Lindy’s
West Division
1. San Diego State
2. San Jose State
3. Nevada
4. Nevada-Las Vegas
5. Fresno State
6. Hawaii
Mountain Division
1. Boise State
2. Air Force
3. Wyoming
4. Colorado State
5. Utah State
6. New Mexico
Athlon
West Division
1. San Diego State
2. Nevada
3. San Jose State
4. Nevada-Las Vegas
5. Fresno State
6. Hawaii
Mountain Division
1. Boise State
2. Air Force
3. Utah State
4. Colorado State
5. New Mexico
6. Wyoming
Sporting News
West Division
1. San Diego State
2. Nevada
3. Fresno State
4. Nevada-Las Vegas
5. San Jose State
6. Hawaii
Mountain Division
1. Boise State
2. Colorado State
3. Air Force
4. New Mexico
5. Utah State
6. Wyoming
Source: Magazines.
Defending champion San Diego State is the unanimous pick to win the division.
The two magazines that rank all 128 Division I teams list UH at No. 121 (Athlon) and 123 (Lindy’s).
That might be more about the collective hangover of five consecutive losing seasons than insight on the upcoming one that opens Aug. 27 in Sydney, Australia.
“Rolovich, who played quarterback at Hawaii 11 years ago, has a lot of work to do to change the culture of losing that has permeated this program since it joined the Mountain West in 2012,” the Sporting News suggested.
Lindy’s Football Annual notes, “An arduous rebuilding project awaits” and quickly reminds, “but it can — and has — been done there.”
In 1999 UH was picked to finish eighth out of eight Western Athletic Conference teams by nine of the 10 magazines then in circulation. Instead, with a new coaching staff and offensive shakeup, UH managed an NCAA-record single season turnaround from 0-12 to 9-4 and earned a share of first place.
But that team had fewer question marks, not to mention a less exhaustive road schedule than the one that will take the 2016 squad more than 46,000 miles.
“So much of this team is in question right now that I think there is a lot of uncertainty,” Rolovich said. “It is hard to say what this team is gonna be.”
You could, as the magazines point out, start with the unsettled quarterback position. There is no anointed starter and there is a growing line to audition for the part in scant time before hopping a plane to Australia, the first game of the college football season.
Athlon lists UH’s quarterbacks 11th among the 12 MWC teams in its “unit rankings.” The ’Bows’ wide receivers/tight ends earn the team’s highest ranking at No. 3.
On defense there is the still undetermined availability of defensive lineman Kennedy Tulimasealii pending the outcome of his trials on several charges. “(He) is the league’s most versatile lineman but his status is unknown following his arrest on assault charges in April,” Lindy’s points out.
Tulimasealii and offensive lineman Dejon Allen are the only ’Bows featured on the magazines’ preseason all-conference first teams.
Meanwhile, Rolovich said, “I think they (the magazines) do their homework, but I don’t think we want to let them determine our fate.”
Especially this year.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
