Hawai’i draws Northern Iowa in Diamond Head Classic opener
Hawai’i will take on Northern Iowa in the first round of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Dec. 22.
The bracket for the eight-team field was announced by ESPN on Thursday. Other first round pairings are Auburn vs. New Mexico, Brigham Young vs. Harvard, and Oklahoma vs. Washington State.
Oklahoma is ranked No. 8 in the ESPN.com “No-Longer-Way-Too Early Top 25” rankings. The Sooners are the only team from the Diamond Head field in the rankings.
Northern Iowa finished with a 31-4 record last season, and was ranked in the top 10 of the national polls late in the season. However, the Panthers lose three starters from that team, including All-America player Seth Tuttle.
Hawai’i returns seven key players from last season’s 22-13 team that placed third in the 2014 Diamond Head Classic. The key returnees are Roderick Bobbitt, Isaac Fleming, Stefan Jankovic, Stefan Jovanovic, Quincy Smith, Mike Thomas and Aaron Valdes.
The Hawai’i-UNI game, which will be televised on ESPNU, is on the same side of the bracket as Oklahoma-Washington State.
The 2015 Diamond Head Classic is set for December 22, 23 and 25 at the Stan Sheriff Center. All games for the tournament will be televised on ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN3.
CLICK HERE to view ESPN.com’s “Bracket breakdown” of the Diamond Head Classic
For ticket information, please visit www.hawaiianairlinesdiamondheadclassic.com
Tournament Schedule
December 22
9:30 a.m. – Auburn vs. New Mexico
11:30 a.m. – BYU vs. Harvard
6 p.m. – Oklahoma vs. Washington State
8 p.m. – Hawai’i vs. Northern Iowa
December 23
9:30 a.m. – Consolation game
11:30 a.m. – Semifinal game
4 p.m. – Semifinal game*
6:30 p.m. – Consolation game*
December 25
8 a.m. – Consolation game
10:30 a.m. – Consolation game*
1:30 p.m. – Third place game*
3:30 p.m. – Championship game*
* Possible UH game/time
I’m fine with this. Northern Iowa is a solid program. But we have a scheduling advantage, playing the late game at 1:30 am EST. Also UNI plays against in-state rivals Iowa St. on 12/19, so UH is a possible trap game.
^^^ Nice info. Thats going to be rough for UNI to play in-state rival and then fly to Hawaii the next day and then have only one day after that to get ready for UH and adjust to Hawaii weather and time. Based on this info and reading up on how UNI is in rebuild mode for this year I would say that UH realistic SHOULD win this game to set up semifinal showdown with Oklahoma!
Wished we could have played BYU or Oklahoma.
Always thought the Trifecta, UH MBB win the RBC to start season, the DHC, which would be great for RPI and national spotlight.. AND finally the BWC tournament.. UH would have great season, and probably win a couple games in the NCAA tourney..
I am trying to stay as Positive as Possible.. love the guys.. who went through as horrible a time, off the court issues, as last year’s returnees.. Aaron, Rod, Q, Isaac Fleming, Niko, Dyrbe, Zach, Brocke, Mike, Stef, Janks, …..Love their Heart and Desire,.. they Deserve to go to NCAA tournament.. ONLY concern, with only 4 guys 6’7″ to 6’11”, UH is very, very small.. UNLESS.. Canda, Sai, and returnees, just hit everything they put up from FT line to 3 line.. With outstanding D..Apparently Eran and staff are working the Guys really hard.. the New stuff and Fundamentals.. that is why They choose NOT to play summer league. smart of guys, do school work and work on getting better.. Love that Jamie Smith is still with program as Perfomance Analyst.. too.. the connection. is Still there..
Hope for the best.. and 2 bigs, don’t get hurt, or other matters.. otherwise, UH would have AV at Center.. real small ball
Go Bows !!
May Be …they could still play UNI, UO & BYU…
UNI should be a good initiation into the DHC under our new head coach. We can still face Ohio and BYU in the final. Winning the classic will say big things about this talented team while others take us for granted.
Whatever happened to Canda and Rod? Haven’t seem that at summer workouts lately.
Anyone have any insights to the 2015 – 2016 schedule?
Go Bows!