PORTLAND, Ore. >> It will be a clash of polar opposites today in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region in the Moda Center.

Arkansas is champion of the nation’s best college basketball conference. The SEC received 10 of the 68 berths in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

For the last time, Hawaii is representing the one-bid Big West. The Rainbow Warriors leave for the Mountain West on July 1.

According to Pete Nakos of On3.com, the Razorbacks had up to $10 million to spend on their roster. With fundraisers and sofa searches, the ’Bows’ are believed to have a $1.2 million roster.

Freshman point guard Darius Acuff Jr., the SEC’s Player of the Year, was a 5-star prospect and McDonald’s All-American as a high school senior. UH’s best player, 7-foot center Isaac “Big Fish” Johnson, was an Eagle Scout.

Per The Sporting News, Arkansas is paying Hall of Fame coach John Calipari $8.5 million per year on a five-year contract he signed in 2025. UH’s Eran Ganot has a month remaining on a contract that pays $330,000 annually.

Calipari led Kentucky to the Final Four four times and UMass twice. This is the ’Bows’ first NCAA appearance since 2016, Ganot’s first season as UH head coach.

So, why are the ’Bows not blinking?

“Hawaii hasn’t been here in 10 years,” captain Harry Rouhliadeff said. “For us to bring this school, like, to the big stage in college basketball means everything to us. We’re not going to go out without a fight. We’re going to keep playing the same way for 40 minutes. It’s the testament of our team. We’ve got a lot of guys that don’t quit, really stick it out.”

Point guard Hunter Erickson noted the ’Bows were steeled knowing there was only one path to an NCAA berth. No matter their record, the 24-8 ’Bows were not going to receive an at-large berth.

“Being a mid-major, the route we have to take is tougher than what high-major programs have,” Erickson said. “No matter how we play during the year, we have to come out and win the conference tournament. I think the journey we have here is harder. That’s something we can hang our hat on.”

At Kentucky, Calipari mastered the tactic of employing one-and-done players. At Arkansas, Calipari did not hesitate in entrusting his offensive juggernaut to freshmen Acuff and Maleek Thomas.

“I’ve started five freshmen one year (at Kentucky), and we got to a Final Four, as a matter of fact, a final game,” Calipari said. “This year, we’re starting two freshmen. We’re going to play the best players.”

Acuff is second nationally in scoring at 22.9 per game while averaging 6.5 assists. Thomas is averaging 15.4 points. While both prefer to attack the rim off ball screens or ankle-breaking handles, they can hit 3s when needed — 43.7% for Acuff, 42.5% for Thomas.

That leaves defenders in multiple-choice options. UH posts Johnson, Rouhliadeff and Gytis Nemeiksa have to move laterally on help defense to challenge drives without fouling and deter 6-10 Trevon Brazile from sneaking across the backside for lobs. Brazile, who has a 42 1/2-inch vertical jump, averages 7.3 rebounds.

“Know where (Brazile) is on the floor, not let him get free lanes,” Johnson said. “He’s an amazing player. He’s got some crazy highlights. We’re going to do our best to limit that and not get frazzled by his verticality and the type of athlete that he is. Two points is two points at the end of the day.”

The Razorbacks average 90.1. points on 50% shooting. They are second nationally with 19.1 fastbreak points per game while allowing an average of 9.7. They lead the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio of plus-1.89.

The Razorbacks’ only meh quality is on the boards. They rank 241st out of 365 Division I teams with a defensive rebounding efficiency of 79.3%. The ’Bows are 11th at 77.2%. UH also limits opposing 3-point shooters to 30.4% accuracy. The ’Bows have made more orbits around the sun (average age was 23 years, three months when the season started).

Asked to name a team asset, Johnson said, “the maturity level of our guys. One of the things not taken into account is there’s a reason NBA teams pay to keep veterans around even if they’re not super performing on the court.”

UH wing Quandre “Dre” Bullock said: “I feel our experience is going to be to our advantage. Arkansas’ got a lot of good players, but most of them are freshmen and sophomores, a lot of young guys. Our guys are a lot older, a lot of experience.”

Calipari said the Razorbacks have played against older teams.

“It’s harder,” he said. “They’ve been through the wars. There’s things that they have experienced that an 18-year-old has not experienced. … Part of it is the NCAA Tournament because this is different. This is one game. You play bad, you lose.”

Last June, combo guard Isaiah Kerr transferred to UH from Division II Chico State. This was his first opportunity to contend for an NCAA Division I berth.

“I’ve been working for this moment, I guess, for a lot of my basketball career,” Kerr said. “I’m finally in it. Everyone on our team lives for moments like this. You can’t go into it with the mindset of, ‘Oh, we’re a lower seed so it’s going to be harder.’ We go in with ‘once that ball tips up, we’re just playing basketball, which we’ve done our whole lives. It’s a great opportunity to play against Acuff. It’s a great challenge. I’m excited.”

[Image of NCAA March Madness Bracket]

BASEBALL

>> Kaikea Harrison (Punahou), Tulane: Launched his third home run of the season in a 5-4 loss to Creighton, tying the ballgame in the seventh, but he grounded out in the ninth and committed two errors at shortstop for the first time this season. Hitting behind him at No. 2 in the order, Tanner Chun (Punahou) had three hits in a game for the second time this season.

>> Logan Honma (Pearl City), Southern California: His first collegiate run was a game-winner, as he entered as a pinch runner for the designated hitter and scored on a medium length fly to center field to give the Trojans a 17-game winning streak to begin the season. It was Honma’s third collegiate game.

>> Wailele Kane-Yates (Kauai), Oral Roberts: Had five hits in a series sweep of South Dakota State, running his modest hitting streak to five. He was also hit by two pitches, running his season total to five in 58 plate appearances.

>> Cody Kashimoto (Punahou), Saint Mary’s: Banged out eight hits in four games last week and scored four runs as the Gaels dropped one game to Rice and two to Grand Canyon. He has fashioned an 11-game hitting streak, the longest on the team this season.

>> Kanoa Morisaki (Kaiser), Cal State Bakersfield: Paired hits twice in a series sweep at the hands of Cal Poly, lashing three doubles. He is hitting .380 in his first year as a starter behind the plate and hasn’t committed an error.

>> Hunter Nishina (Moanalua), Pacific: Had three hits in a game for the third time this year in a 6-5 loss to Linfield, raising his batting average to .377 on a team that is 5-13 because of a 7.26 team earned run average.

>> Beau Sylvester (Kamehameha), Arizona: Came up clutch repeatedly last week, getting hit by a pitch in the ninth inning to lead to a tying rally and then singling in the 11th inning to lead to the winning runs in an 8-6 victory over Utah. He lined an 0-2 pitch for a tying double with the Wildcats down to their final out two days later, but the Utes ended up winning 8-7. He raised his batting average from .233 to .255 in the series. He hit .266 last year with Oklahoma State.

>> Lee Matsuzaki (Mid Pacific), Nevada: Belted two home runs in a 9-4 win over Fresno State, giving him five hits in the series. He was hitting .200 off the bench but has risen his average to .400 since joining the starting lineup at the beginning of the month. Sean Yamaguchi (Saint Louis) went deep in a wild 15-12 win over the Bulldogs to end the series sweep. Greyson Osbun (Kamehameha) made his collegiate debut with a scoreless inning in a 13-8 loss to Stanford that included Payton Dixon (Mid-Pacific) giving up the first run of his career on a home run in his third inning.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

>> Kayla Thornton (Maui), Central Washington: Reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division II women’s basketball tournament but saw her journey end in a 57-51 loss to Cal Poly Pomona despite playing all 40 minutes and scoring six points. She started all 31 games this season, averaging 5.2 points per game and 2.5 rebounds per contest. She had a career-high 19 points in the semifinals of her conference tournament but lost to Montana State-Billings.

SOFTBALL

>> Cairah Curran (Campbell), Santa Clara: Stole four more bases and scored three more runs in a 2-1 series win over Montana. She moved into third place in program history with her 11th run scored in 134 games and into second in career stolen bases with 76.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

>> Ella Connor (Seabury Hall), Cal Poly: Making her case as one of the best duos in the nation with partner Erin Inskeep, winning all four matches over the weekend. They beat the top pairs from Arizona (21-12, 21-18), Grand Canyon (21-15, 21-15), Oregon (21-7, 21-14) and Santa Clara (21-16, 21-10).

>> Kelia Giusta (Moanalua), Concordia Irvine: Celebrated her senior day with two victories, teaming with Ashley Rossi to beat The Master’s No. 2 squad 21-11, 21-8 and Mira Costa’s 21-9, 21-17.

WOMEN’S GOLF

>> Raya Nakao (Punahou), Oregon State: Finished in a tie for 10th at the Betsy Rawls Invitational, shooting over par in every round and ending up nine shots off the lead. Teal Matsueda (Kalani) notched a T18 despite a 79 in the first round and the Broncos finished eighth as the top unranked team.

MEN’S TENNIS

>> Tanner Ige (Punahou), Pomona Pitzer: Won both of his singles matches last week, sweeping Chapman’s No. 5 player 6-2, 6-3 and the Redlands player at that spot 6-4, 7-5. His team won both matches, 5-2 over the Panthers and 4-3 over the Bulldogs. The freshman has won five matches in a row after starting his career 5-4.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

>> Jarrick Bagoisan (Waipahu), Morningside: Had a career high with 13 assists in a 3-0 loss to William Penn. He has been splitting setter duties with Malu Wilcox (Moanalua) the past two matches as the Mustangs try to end a long losing streak. Wilcox led the way with 20 assists and has been in double figures in 24 straight contests.

>> Trent Goo Sun (University), Marian: Established a career high with 23 kills with only five errors and 11 digs in a 3-2 win over Illinois Tech, breaking the school’s eight-match losing streak. His final kill made it 15-14 in the final set. His previous high in kills in a match was 17.

>> Sam Landers (Hawaii Prep), Adrian: Put up his first double-double of the season with 23 kills and 14 digs and tied a season high with three blocks in a 3-2 win over Greenville and came back four days later with 12 kills in a 3-0 loss to Wisconsin-Stevens Point and 10 in a sweep of Franklin to run his streak of matches in double figures in kills to four.

MEN’S WRESTLING

>> Kanaipono Tapia (Kamehameha), Menlo: Was untouchable at 165 pounds in the West Coast Conference Championships, pinning his first opponent in under a minute and winning the championship by a 17-2 technical fall. He was an All-American two years ago but redshirted last year. The Oaks won every weight class, including 149 pounds, where freshman Tyger Taam (Moanalua) reigned with two pins and two technical falls, including an 18-2 stoppage over the top seed.

WOMEN’S WRESTLING

>> Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp (Baldwin), Providence, Mont: Took third place at 131 pounds at the NAIA National Championships, losing 6-3 in the semifinals but fighting back to pin her opponent in 33 seconds in the third-place match. Estrella-Beauchamp is a four-time All-American with finishes in fourth, third twice and second last year.

>> Lia Ferreira (Baldwin), Southern Oregon: Won two matches at the NAIA National Championships in the 103-pound class, shaking off an 8-1 loss to Erin Hikiji (Mililani) to stop two ranked opponents from Doane before getting stuck by her No. 6-ranked opponent from Grand View. She was an All-American two years ago before suffering an injury.

>> Erin Hikiji (Mililani), Providence (Mont.): Won her second straight national title at 103 pounds, dominating Zoey Haney of Indiana Tech 11-0 in the final to finish her senior season 33-0. She is a four-time national finalist and hasn’t lost since the 2024 final.

>> Tristan Nitta (Mililani), Grand View: Became an All-American for the third time, taking third place at 110 pounds in the NAIA National Championships. She lost her semifinal match on a tiebreaker and then dominated the consolation bracket with four pins and a technical fall. She avenged her semifinal loss with a third period pin in the consolation semifinals.

>> Ashlee Palimo’o (Kamehameha-Maui), Doane: Lost both of her matches in the NAIA Championships, being pinned by Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp (Baldwin) of Providence (Mont.), and then falling 8-3 to lead off the consolation round. It was her second straight season as a national qualifier.

>> Tatiana Paragas (Punahou), William Penn: Got off to a good start at 124 pounds in the NAIA Championships, winning her first match 10-7 and leading her opponent in her quarterfinal contest 2-0 before being pinned in the first period. She made it to the second period in her next match but also got stopped.

>> Kayla Shota (Moanalua), Providence (Mont.): Won her first match at 110 pounds at the NAIA Championships, beating her opponent by technical fall. She was pinned in her next two contests, but her points from the first match helped the Argos take fourth place as a team.