Given the series of sea changes that have inundated college basketball, few things in the sport can truly be called normal in 2025.

That includes scheduling.

Waves of disruption — from Name, Image and Likeness rights, conference realignment and the NCAA’s student-athlete eligibility calculus — have reverberated to all corners of the country, including out across the Pacific Ocean to the farthest flung of 365 Division I programs.

The University of Hawaii men’s hoops team announced its 10-game nonconference slate on Wednesday, featuring some noticeable departures from the Rainbow Warriors’ custom.

What You Need To Know

The Hawaii men’s basketball team announced its 10-game nonconference schedule for the upcoming 2025-26 season on Wednesday, featuring a season-opening game at Oregon and a home contest against Arizona State

According to UH coach Eran Ganot, UH had difficulty finding opponents for December games once ESPN Events announced that the nationally televised Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic will not happen this year

UH’s 18-day gap between games in December is the largest of Ganot’s 11 seasons, except for the 2020-21 season when the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out most nonconference games

The Rainbow Warriors could still add a game in mid-to-late December, Ganot said, possibly on the road

A few of the quirks: A leadoff road game, a mid-November Rainbow Classic and a huge gap in December.

One big constant is that UH will still play a home-heavy slate in coach Eran Ganot’s 11th season — all but one nonconference game will be at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center — but how it’s structured is unusual.

Arena conflicts with Big West women’s volleyball and Mountain West football games on campus Nov. 7 to 9 meant that UH could not lead off with the Rainbow Classic, its four-team round-robin tournament.

Instead, as previously reported, UH will open the 2025-26 at Oregon on Nov. 4, just the sixth time in program history the ‘Bows will play their first official game on the continent. It represents an immediate test for a remade UH roster that includes six Division I transfers.

“We obviously have a lot of new faces, but we kind of thought about, let’s just throw them in the fire early and go from there and get a good test,” Ganot told Spectrum News on Thursday.

A UH spokesperson told Spectrum News that Oregon will pay out a $100,000 guarantee for the game. In the past, the Rainbow Warriors have gotten similar payouts from power conference road games (Texas Tech in 2015, Illinois in 2019, Utah in 2017 and 2023).

The 2025-26 season is shaping up to be a pivotal one for the program. It will be UH’s last in the Big West before leaving for the Mountain West, and heading into the year it is Ganot’s last under contract. UH is coming off a 15-16 campaign in which it missed the Big West tournament and saw a perceptible dip in attendance.

Opponents revealed for the first time Wednesday were East Texas A&M (Nov. 9), Hawaii Pacific (Nov. 24), Hawaii Hilo (Dec. 10) and UTEP (Dec. 13). The other six were previously disclosed on opponents’ schedules.

ESPN Events’ decision in February to place the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on hiatus for the coming season — and quite likely beyond — left Ganot and his staff with the task of trying to get additional games in December, an increasingly difficult window as conferences have expanded their league schedules to before the flip of the calendar year. Those incursions are a big reason why ESPN announced the DHC would shift to Feast Week in November before putting it on pause indefinitely.

“It’s a little bit what of we were dealing with,” Ganot said. “We didn’t have anybody who wanted to play us.”

As of now, UH has an 18-day December gap between games, from the last nonconference game against UTEP to the first Big West road game at UC Riverside on Jan. 1.

It represents the largest span between games in Ganot’s tenure besides the 2020-21 season, in which the entire nonconference schedule was wiped out due to COVID-19, save two games against local Division II opponents.

“When you’re trying to fill dates late, especially at Hawaii, and other teams are further down the road, and they’re trying to adjust for the Hawaii trip with their schedule — it was a challenge,” Ganot told Spectrum News. “Obviously, we didn’t want that (Diamond Head shutdown) to happen. It was out of our control. But certainly, if it did, it would have been better to know earlier.

“But that being said, it happened … and I really appreciate our staff for putting together a pretty well-balanced schedule with those conflicts.”

There remains the possibility that UH could add a December game, either between Dec. 20 to 22, or Dec. 27 to 28. It could be on the road.

Ganot was proud of locking in the Nov. 20 home game against Arizona State to catch Bobby Hurley’s Sun Devils on their way over for the Maui Invitational.

“To be able to get them to come on a Thursday, that was a real coup for us,” Ganot said.

The Outrigger Rainbow Classic, with Mississippi Valley State (Nov. 12), Manhattan (Nov. 14) and Utah Tech (Nov. 15) is the first edition with a full Division I field since 2022.

The games against HPU and UHH mark the third straight year, and eighth time in Ganot’s 11 seasons that UH has played two official games against non-Division I teams.

UH’s final 20-game Big West season begins at home with “Bold Week” matchups against UC Davis (Dec. 4) and Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 6).

The Rainbows begin full preseason practices on Tuesday.

Hawaii men’s basketball nonconference schedule 2025-26

Nov. 4 — at Oregon

Nov. 9 — East Texas A&M

Nov. 12 — Mississippi Valley State

Nov. 14 — Manhattan

Nov. 15 — Utah Tech

Nov. 20 — Arizona State

Nov. 24 — Hawaii Pacific

Nov. 28 — North Dakota

Dec. 10 — Hawaii Hilo

Dec. 13 — UTEP

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.