Like most sports in the Western Athletic Conference, when softball has held its annual meetings, there has been considerable talk among the head coaches about improving strength of schedule and muscling up the Ratings Percentage Index the NCAA uses to chart it.

The difference is that softball coaches have done more than just talk.

They have also walked the walk and this week the NCAA Tournament is their payoff. The WAC landed four teams in the 64-team field, pretty remarkable for a seven-team league. Eye-opening, really, considering that in four of the six previous seasons the WAC got just one team in the tournament.

"It shows that the WAC has gotten stronger and is playing tougher competition as a whole," Hawai'i coach Bob Coolen said. "We are no longer a one or two team conference. The NCAA selecting four teams from the WAC is a real monumental accomplishment and makes a statement."

It says, for example, this is one sport where coaches have taken to heart the WAC "Play Up!" slogan and scheduled up. Not so crazily as to shoot down their postseason hopes before they can get off the ground but wisely enough to build a substantial case for at-large berths. And, then, they have won those games.

Hawai'i for example, was 26-10 outside of conference and played 13 games against non-WAC teams that made the NCAA Tournament.

Which is why when Louisiana Tech, a team that had a losing record in the WAC in the regular season, went on an unimagined tear to win the conference tournament, the WAC was still able to land three at-large picks. Hawai'i (38-19), Fresno State (51-11) and Nevada (42-16) all found their way into the field on strength of schedule.

It came as a surprise when the WAC got four bids. But maybe it shouldn't have. "I think we have a group of coaches that are willing to do what it takes," Coolen said. "We've had a whole evolution in terms of coaches who want their teams to be more competitive for the postseason."

Often there has been a bone to pick with the NCAA selection committees when it comes to UH and WAC teams being left out of the postseason. But just as often postseason at-large candidates haven't done all they can to enhance their cases, either. Too often they play bottom-feeder schedules and pile up wins that do little to strengthen postseason credentials.

"We're always going to have an automatic berth (for the winner)," WAC commissioner Karl Benson said. "But when it comes down to the committee picking at-large teams, it is important who you play and how you did."

There is a lesson far beyond the diamonds around the WAC in the NCAA softball selections. You hope the rest of the conference, men's basketball in particular, takes note.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.