The $64,000 question — the amount the University of Hawai'i bid to host the NAPA Auto Parts Western Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament — this week is: Can the Rainbows afford not to have their last swing at a postseason berth payoff?

Let us count the ways the tournament that opens today is a win-or-bust proposition for the Rainbows' flickering NCAA Tournament hopes — and more. Win the double-elimination tourney that, for the 'Bows (31-24), opens against Louisiana Tech, and the disappointment that has lingered since the sweep by the same Bulldogs three weeks ago — and the series split with Utah Valley last week — dissipates.

To the winner of the four-day event at Les Murakami Stadium goes the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. That was the avowed goal when the 'Bows began back in February and it is still achievable now, provided they take care of business since an at-large invitation is unlikely.

That the opportunity comes in what could very well be the last WAC Baseball Tournament to be played in Manoa makes it all the more timely. UH is hosting for the ninth time in its 30-year history, the last one scheduled at a member school.

The WAC, which has made a priority of moving championship events to neutral sites, will hold at least the next three tournaments in Mesa, Ariz., the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs. And even if they should revert to school fields, financial considerations make a return here unlikely.

Since the 'Bows have the longest commute of anybody in the nine-member conference, including a 2,915-mile jaunt to Mesa, that would be a significant move. Not by coincidence, you have to think, is it that UH has won six previous WAC Tournaments but only one of them (at Provo, Utah in 1987) away from the home turf.

Then, there is coach Mike Trapasso, who is scheduled to meet with administrators about an extension of a contract that expires June 30th. A pennant would make the session go smoother.

For a lot of reasons, then, it behooves UH to cash in on this week's opportunity.