Let the whining commence. But, please, let it end quickly.

There are two constants for this weekend each year. Turkey sandwiches (good) and moaning about the big, bad NCAA and how unfair and mean it is to the University of Hawaii volleyball program (bad).

Every year. Same-old, same-old. It’s imprinted on my calendar in November, like Veterans Day and Thanksgiving: NCAA volleyball tournament selection. And my note in the Snub Wahine Day box: "Brace self for NCAA not realizing that volleyball world revolves around Hawaii."

One of the things I like about Dave Shoji is that he says his piece about it and tries to move on and get ready to play.

His team is probably among the best 16 in the nation in reality (and it certainly is in the opinion of fellow coaches, who have the Wahine at No. 8).

But RPI — that dreadful formula that counts who you play more than what you do — has UH at No. 17. Two teams outside of the top 16 get to host, but Hawaii is not one of them. Have fun with that, conspiracy theorists.

In the history of snubbery and disrespect of UH by the NCAA this is a petty misdemeanor. It’s not like the Wahine are being sent off to the hinterland to play some unbeatable behemoth, like Penn State, at their place.

This isn’t a walkover draw for UH, but it’s manageable. Let’s assume the Wahine get past opening-round opponent Santa Clara (if they don’t, everything else is moot, right?).

No. 16 Washington is 23-6 and has lost twice at home, and has dropped two of its last five matches. Hawaii is 9-0 on the road.

Make it out of Seattle, and then it’s on to Omaha and Nebraska — the fourth seed. That would be tough, certainly. But conceivably, that is favorable to going up against one, two or three.

So, all things considered I think the NCAA really fell down on the job of jobbing Hawaii this year.

That is, unless the goal of this program has changed somewhere along the line to something less than winning the national championship. If expectations for a perennial top-10 program that went to the final four just three years ago have been altered, I missed the memo.

I’m not going to put a fifth national championship before Shoji retires out of the question.

Yes, it would’ve been nice to see them play in some NCAA matches here this week. Great environment, great crowd.

But it takes effort to convince the NCAA it is in the best interest of all concerned to send three teams to Hawaii rather than move one team from Hawaii.

Last year the Wahine did get to host — and not just the first two rounds, the regional semis and final, too. The Wahine fell to USC in a spellbinding five-set instant classic in the semis at the Stan Sheriff Center.

It was great volleyball and we got to see it firsthand. But people complained that USC shouldn’t have been brought here because it was ranked No. 1.

It’s obvious that when UH finally hires a new athletic director the first thing he or she must do is convince the NCAA that in each round of its future volleyball tournaments, Hawaii gets to host the worst remaining team.

For now, my advice is enjoy that the Wahine are among teams still in contention for the national title.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783 or on Twitter at @dave_reardon.