Pick any team in this year's Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic field and you could have an equal chance of finding the first-place team or last-place team.

"It's as balanced a field as I've seen," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "The only advantage is with us being the home team."

There are no nationally ranked teams in the eight-team field, but there are no pushovers either.

Joining the host Rainbow Warriors in this year's field are Colorado State, Iowa State, Loyola Marymount, Northwestern State, Oregon State, South Florida and Western Michigan.

The four-day tournament starts tomorrow and runs through Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center. Each team will play three games.

Hawai'i will face Loyola Marymount in the opening round tomorrow at 7:30 p.m.

"There's a lot of tradition associated with this tournament, and we've won it the last four years," Hawai'i co-captain Julian Sensley said. "We take a lot of pride in it, and I think a lot of the people around the state take a lot of pride in it, too."

Hawai'i has won the Rainbow Classic six of the last eight years, including the last four. From the first year of the tournament in 1964 to 1996, the 'Bows won it four times.

"We've got a better basketball program now than we did before," Wallace said. "But it's also become tougher to get the big-name teams to come here now."

Northwestern State, Oregon State, South Florida and Western Michigan will be playing in the Rainbow Classic for the first time. Colorado State, Iowa State and Loyola Marymount each played in the Classic once before.

"Hawai'i being the home team has a distinct advantage," Western Michigan head coach Steve Hawkins said. "But I think you could put all eight teams in a hat and then pull the order that way. You can just as easily win all three games you play as lose all three games."

Iowa State started the season ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press Top 25, but has lost three games since then. The Cyclones have one of the top guards in the nation in 6-foot-3 junior Curtis Stinson. He is averaging 19.7 points, 5.6 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game.

"Iowa State is still very talented, so you have to look at them," Wallace said. "But there are a couple of other surprises in there."

Colorado State is off to one of the best starts in its program's history at 7-1. Led by 7-footer Jason Smith, the Rams have been playing large.

They lead NCAA Division I in blocked shots, and Smith is averaging 17.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.9 blocked shots per game.

"We're not a great team by any stretch," Colorado State head coach Dale Layer said. "But we've found ways to win, so that's a good sign."

The dark horse team could be Northwestern State. The Demons are from Natchitoches, La., and they are no strangers to travel.

Northwestern State is 6-2, and has already played five road games. Among its victories are road upsets at Mississippi State and Oklahoma State.

"We've had a pretty good start," Northwestern State head coach Mike McConathy said. "But for a smaller school like us, just getting the opportunity to play in a tournament like this will help us."

When Wallace was an assistant coach at Centenary in 1973, he tried to recruit McConathy, who was a standout high school player in Louisiana at the time.

"I've known him a long time and he's a friend, even though I ended up going to Louisiana Tech," McConathy said.

South Florida from the Big East Conference and Oregon State from the Pac-10 are also considered legitimate threats to Hawai'i's Rainbow Classic reign.

"It's kind of like a marathon because you have so many basketball games in just a few days," Layer said. "And whoever is the strongest at the end will win it."

Hawai'i might have the home-court advantage, but it will not have any preparation edge. The 'Bows beat Utah State, 69-59, in the Western Athletic Conference opener on Saturday.

"This will prepare us for the WAC," Wallace said. "You don't have much time to prepare for your opponents in the conference, so it's the same thing here."

While Hawai'i was playing on Saturday, Colorado State and Northwestern State were working out in the UH practice gyms.

"We wanted to come in early and take advantage of the whole trip," Layer said. "If this tournament were in Bozeman, Montana, I don't think we'd be here."

Layer said the Rams went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay yesterday and will take more time "to enjoy Hawai'i" this week.

"There are four to five hours a day that's strictly business," he said. "But there's also four to five hours a day to have some fun. For a lot of our guys, this is opening their eyes to a whole different world."

Colorado State will not be the only team playing tourist.

Western Michigan is planning to visit Pearl Harbor. Northwestern State will go to a lu'au and the swap meet.

"We knew we were coming here two years ago, and it became a major recruiting tool for us ever since," Hawkins said. "The weather is just a little bit different where we're from, so we'd be crazy not to enjoy this while we're here."

'BOWS STILL RECOVERING

Reserve guards Bobby Nash and "Little Matt" Gibson are still questionable for the 'Bows this week.

Nash has an injured right shoulder and is contemplating a redshirt season. He was able to practice yesterday.

"We still want to give it time to heal and see how it goes from there," Wallace said. "He can't do the things he normally can because of it."

Gibson did not practice yesterday because he is recovering from minor surgery last week to remove a staph infection from his chest.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.