Warrior Insider

With UConn winning the NCAA National Championship on Monday night, a thought came to mind. Have the Huskies ever played the University of Hawai’i in men’s basketball?

The answer is yes, but it was way back in 1972, and it took place in Storrs, Conn. For the record, Hawai’i’s “Fabulous Five” team won that game, 77-71.

The Huskies, who won their fifth national championship (all since 1999) on Monday, have never played the Rainbow Warriors in Hawai’i. In fact, UConn is probably the most prominent team to never appear in either the Rainbow Classic or Diamond Head Classic.

They are also one of 11 teams from the so-called power conferences of basketball that have never played the Warriors in Honolulu.

Here are the seven power teams that have never played a game against Hawai’i anywhere:

Alabama
DePaul
Georgetown
Marquette
Penn State
Virginia
Virginia Tech

Here are four power teams that played Hawai’i elsewhere, but never in Honolulu:

UConn
North Carolina State
Notre Dame
Syracuse

And here are the power teams, in alphabetical order, that are overdue for a visit (last played Hawai’i before 2000):

Arizona (last met in 1991)
Arizona State (1998)
Arkansas (1977)
Baylor (1994)
Boston College (1965)
Cincinnati (1994)
Duke (1989)
Florida (1986)
Georgia Tech (1973)
Houston (1977)
Indiana (1997)
Iowa (1994)
Kansas (1997)
Kansas State (1993)
Kentucky (1987)
LSU (1982)
Northwestern (1996)
Ohio State (1967)
Oklahoma State (1998)
Oregon (1999)
Purdue (1988)
Providence (1972)
Rutgers (1989)
South Carolina (1981)
Stanford (1990)
Texas (1998)
Texas A&M (1989)
Villanova (1991)
West Virginia (1970)

In fairness, some of the teams listed above have participated in the Diamond Head Classic, but never got matched up against Hawai’i.

For what it’s worth, TCU from the Big 12 is scheduled to be in the 2023 Diamond Head Classic. North Carolina from the ACC is scheduled to play a stand-alone game at Hawai’i in November 2024.