The University of Hawaii and San Diego State haven’t so much as dribbled a basketball in the Big West Conference and already there are some philosophical divides emerging in their soon-to-be hoops home.

The arrival of the Rainbow Warriors (2012-13) and Aztecs (2013-14) is supposed to help "elevate" the conference. Or, at least that was the public declaration when their membership was announced and men’s basketball was touted as a "focus" sport by the conference.

But when basketball coaches from the conference met recently in California, there was a clash of agendas between the two incoming members and most of the holdovers, people briefed on the meetings said.

While UH and SDSU have strongly advocated a 14- or 16-game conference schedule for 2013-14, giving them room to schedule more nonconference contests and increase their power ratings, the majority of the coaches instead voted for an 18-game schedule.

The recommendation goes to the Big West Council next month and "will then be subject to ratification by the presidents," commissioner Dennis Farrell said.

The Big West played a 16-game schedule with nine teams this past season and will play an 18-game schedule with 10 teams in 2012-13 as UH joins.

SDSU coach Steve Fisher declined comment through a spokesman and UH athletic director Jim Donovan referred questions to the Big West office.

But both have previously been on the record against playing a round-robin schedule in the Big West in favor of an expanded nonconference component. When it was announced four months ago that the Aztecs would not follow their football team to the Big East but would join the Big West for basketball, Fisher told the San Diego Union-Tribune he had lobbied for a 14-game schedule that "gives us latitude and flexibility" and it was suggested an "understanding" had been reached.

The operative intent for the Aztecs, who were 26-8 this past season and earned a third-straight NCAA berth, and UH, which seeks a return to the NCAA after a 10-year absence, is that if they don’t win the Big West Tournament and the automatic NCAA berth that goes with it, they want to have a strong case for an at-large berth.

Strength of schedule is a key component of the Ratings Percentage Index the NCAA selection committee uses to help pick at-large entries. And the problem in the Big West has been that the conference’s overall RPI is so low that only once in the past 18 years has the league landed an at-large berth.

In addition, Big West champions have traditionally received poor seeds, including Long Beach State, which was 25-9 this season and a 12 seed. The 49ers had the toughest-ranked schedule before entering conference play but finished with a No. 117 strength of schedule ranking.

For 2011-12, the Big West ranked 26th among 31 conferences. The Western Athletic Conference was 12th and MWC fifth.

UH’s strength of schedule (174 among 344 schools) was better than eight current Big West institutions. The Aztecs, meanwhile, played Baylor, Arizona, Creighton, Cal, USC and Long Beach State in nonconference games and were ranked 60th.