The lingering limbo for the University of Hawaii basketball team has given way to a growing feeling of frustration when it comes to the program’s unresolved NCAA penalties case.

UH still does not know if it can participate in the Big West tournament in March or whether it will receive up to two scholarships back for the 2017-18 season. Manoa has gotten no word on a timetable from the NCAA for months.

The Rainbow Warriors (8-10, 2-3 Big West), who were picked in the preseason to finish eighth in the nine-team conference, are tied for sixth heading into this week’s home games against UC Riverside on Wednesday and UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. The midpoint of the conference season is right around the corner.

“It’s close to February and we’re still in this state of uncertainty,” UH coach Eran Ganot lamented Monday. “It’s very unique when you’re playing in conference, for seeding and all that, for conference/postseason when you don’t officially know for sure you’re in postseason.”

UH has yet to make any travel arrangements for Anaheim, Calif., site of the Big West tournament March 9-11, while it awaits word.

Ganot has emphasized focusing on the task at hand to his players, in similar fashion to last season, when the penalties were announced Dec. 22, 2015.

“I think the basketball season is already tough enough as it is without having to worry about all that stuff,” junior forward Gibson Johnson said. “We’re just staying focused on … controlling what we can control. We can’t control when the NCAA is going to announce that, or if they’re going to announce it. So, when they do we’ll take that into consideration, but right now we’re just controlling what we can control and hopefully get the W on Wednesday.”

UH got what it felt was positive word back from the governing body on Oct. 28, when the Division I Infractions Appeals Committee determined UH’s penalties — most notably a 2017 postseason ban and two deducted scholarships through 2017-18 — be re-evaluated by the Committee on Infractions, the group that doled out the punishment in the distant wake of Gib Arnold’s 2014 firing. It’s been roughly a year since UH appealed its penalties.

“I think it’s fair to say while we’re waiting on this decision we’re in no-man’s land,” athletic director David Matlin said. “The sooner we find out, the better.”

It’s been no less stressful for the Big West, which has been supportive of UH’s position in the case.

Eight of nine teams in the conference qualify for the Big West tournament, but if one is ineligible or takes itself out of the running — like Cal State Northridge last March — the last-place team takes its place.

“That’s the frustrating part of it. We don’t know what to plan for,” Big West commissioner Dennis Farrell said. “The limbo is what’s been most frustrating. It’s not going to be a good situation for a team to suddenly go from figuring they were in the tournament to not being in the tournament. And the longer it goes on without that answer, the harder pill it’s going to be for someone to swallow if indeed that is what happens.”

As things stand, Cal Poly is in last place at 0-5.

Farrell said there will have to be a cutoff point to lock in other teams if UH still hadn’t gotten closure, but declined to give a specific date.

“At some point in time we’re going to have to fish or cut bait,” Farrell said. “And it could be the week of the tournament.”

He added it’s possible that if the appeal process is still unresolved at that point, the NCAA could roll UH’s postseason ban over to next season. Another source said that outcome is “in play” but the possibility is “slight.” Were that to happen, UH would have the option of taking the postseason penalty on itself this March — instead of playing in the league tournament followed by another year of uncertainty.

The NCAA has declined to comment on the particulars of the UH appeal process, citing association policy. A request Monday for an update on UH’s case was not immediately given a response.

“The NCAA has been trying to create a more expedited process to eliminate these types of uncertainties and delays and all,” Farrell said. “That’s another part of my frustration, is it hasn’t sped that up.”

As for UH’s lost scholarships, Ganot is hopeful they will be returned at the same time the postseason decision is reached.

“There’s program ramifications — that’s what’s tough,” said Ganot, noting the uncertainty around the NCAA case has bled into a third straight recruiting class. UH has one player signed for 2017-18 (Kahuku’s Samuta Avea) and no more scholarships to offer.

“You always have to have a Plan A, Plan B (under normal circumstances),” Ganot said. “But (now) you’re dealing with Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, because the timing that has taken place has put you in positions that are unlike anything anybody else is going through. We still have to find a way.”