Here’s the list of Hawai’i’s nonconference opponents and their Standings:

MAC/MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE (12 schools):
Ohio (23-4, 16-0 conf) is the #1 seed in this weekend’s MAC CHAMPIONSHIP tournament for the NCAA automatic bid.

Good, Bad, or Ugly scheduling? Good. … Whoever scheduled Ohio vs UH for this year deserves a pat on the back, though it helps to know that Ohio was last year’s regular-conference champion and the #1 seed also.
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BIG EAST (10 schools):
St. John’s (19-12, 8-8 conf) is in 6th position in the Standings. Butler, St. John’s and Xavier are the only 3 teams mathematically alive for the final remaining BIG EAST Championship berth. Whichever squad captures the berth will be next weekend’s tournament’s 4th seed.

Good, Bad, or Ugly? Bad, since it’s a long-shot that St. John’s will even qualify for the Big East Championship tournament, much less the NCAA Championship tournament.
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WCC/WEST COAST CONFERENCE (10 schools):
San Francisco (12-16, 5-11 conf) usually is in the upper half of the WCC but not this year. BYU (22-4, 13-2) earns the NCAA automatic, but at-large bids could go to LMU (22-5. 10-5) and possibly a third [Santa Clara (20-9, 10-6) ] but don’t think a 4th WCC team. San Francisco is second to last in the Standings. Scheduler had the right idea, just chose the wrong team for this year.

Good, Bad, or Ugly? Ugly.
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MWC/MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE (11 schools):
Whose bright idea was it to schedule 3 MWC teams?

New Mexico (18-11, 10-6 conf) is currently 4th in the standings — after Colorado St/26-2, UNLV/24-6, and Wyoming/21-7. Good, Bad, or Ugly? Bad.

San Diego State (13-13, 8-7 conf) is currently tied for 6th. Good, Bad, or Ugly? Ugly

Utah State (12-14, 8-7 conf) is currently tied for 6th. Good, Bad, or Ugly? Ugly.

FYI: Colorado State can clinch at least a share of the Mountain West title on Wednesday. It would mark the program’s 6th-consecutive conference championship, and 12th in the league’s 16-year history. Bet you didn’t know that entering 2014, CSU and UH were the only D1 teams to win (or share) their conference title each of the past five seasons. Wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the these 2 schools meet in the subregionals.
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PAC-12 (12 schools):

Oregon (19-7, 9-7 conf) is currently tied for 4th in Pac-12 standings.
Good, Bad, or Ugly? Good. Easily earns an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship.

UCLA (17-9, 8-7 conf) is 6th.
Good, Bad, or Ugly? Good.

Arizona State (17-11, 7-9) is tied for 7th (along with USC and Oregon State).
Good, Bad, or Ugly? In between Good and Bad. If ASU stays at 7th in the conference standings, it can expect an at-large bid to the Really Big Show.

important to win out. put ucsb and davis away in these last 2 weeks. because playing riverside and cal poly will definitely hurt the RPI.

florida st’s non-conference opponents all have positive win/loss records. and all but 2 of north carolina’s non-conference opponents have positive win/loss records. with RPI’s regional bias, it’s much easier to schedule teams on the east coast (or at least from the midwest on) that have good win/loss records, just for the simple fact that there are more schools out there, and thus a larger pool of teams to schedule from.

that’s why, for hawaii’s RPI — it’s critical to invite schools here from the midwest and east coast, to diversify hawaii’s non-conference schedule. this year, ohio was a great team to schedule. ohio is 23-4 on the season. ohio does more to prop up hawaii’s RPI than does the pac-12 schools, b/c the middle-of-the-pack pac-12 schools all beat up on each and give each other losses.

hawaii played ucla, oregon and arizona st this year. during the preseason, ucla went 9-2, oregon 10-0, and arizona st was 10-2. all great win/loss records for hawaii’s RPI (even though hawaii lost to all 3 of them). BUT since the pac-12 season started, they’ve all suffered losses in a deep/brutal conference. ucla is now 18-9, oregon is 19-7, and arizona st is 17-11. as they rack up losses in the pac-12, hawaii’s RPI gets dragged down too.

of course, it’s not all due to the pac-12. the big west has some stinkers that hawaii has to play as well (like uc riverside, fullerton and cal poly). and at the end of the day, if the pac-12 schools maintain a winning record overall, that will still help hawaii’s RPI. playing pac-12 teams offers a competitive match that will make hawaii better, but unless your playing the teams at the top of the pac-12 standings, they’re not always the best in terms of an RPI boost.