HONOLULU — While college football as a whole remains tumultuous with the looming threat of conference realignment at the top levels, the Mountain West sought to establish some order within its ranks on Thursday with its announcement of its revamped league schedule for the three years following the 2022 season.
This year will be the last with the traditional six-team divisions followed by the championship game being decided between winners of each division. Starting in 2023, divisions are abolished in the 12-team league — following a national trend — and the top two teams by winning percentage will head to the title game.
Until Thursday, it was unknown what the makeup of each team’s conference schedule would be past this season.
The MWC elected to go with a three-year rotation for the 2023, 2024 and 2025 seasons. In each of those years, each team has two “locked” opponents that will appear all three years. The rest of the opponents will appear twice over the three years.
Hawaii’s “locked” opponents are UNLV and San Diego State. UH fans attend games in Las Vegas in numbers greater than any other conference road venue and the schools started up the Ninth Island Showdown perpetual trophy battle in 2017.
UH also has a longtime rivalry with SDSU that dates back to the teams’ Western Athletic Conference days. UH topped the Aztecs in 2019, 14-11, to earn what has been UH’s only MWC championship game appearance since it joined the league in 2012.
Following the upcoming 2022 season, the first as head coach for former Rainbow Warrior quarterback Timmy Chang, a few other longstanding rivalries will see gaps. UH will not encounter heated rival Fresno State in 2023, snapping a streak of 31 years of meetings with the Bulldogs going back to 1992 — the longest run of annual matchups with a singular opponent in program history. Another opponent Rainbow Warrior fans have long been accustomed to seeing, San Jose State, will not appear in 2024, and Nevada will not appear in 2025, snapping a streak of 24 annual meetings.
Meanwhile, opponents in the Mountain Division like Boise State, Wyoming, Utah State and Air Force will be seen by UH more frequently than in the old format.
Per the Mountain West, “the rotation was created based on work of a subcommittee of MW athletics directors and was formally approved by the entire group of athletics directors.”
UH Athletic Director David Matlin told Spectrum News in a message that he was satisfied with UH's schedule.
"Think the process was good and happy with UNLV and SDSU as locked opponent(s), great to continue our trophy game with UNLV," he wrote.
Spectrum Sports football analyst Rich Miano had a mixed reaction.
"In the crazy world of college football SDSU/UNLV are locals' favorite destinations," he wrote in a message to Spectrum Sports. "(But) not having Fresno regularly will be missed as Hawaii's best MWC rival. And not having SJSU with ... (coach) Brent Brennan would be a natural. MWC could be vastly different in one year!"
Teams will not repeat opponents at the same site in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. For the first time in 2023, all four of UH’s perpetual trophy series will be contested: the Ninth Island Showdown with UNLV; the Dick Tomey Trophy with SJSU; the Kuter Trophy with Air Force; and the Paniolo Trophy with Wyoming.
UH’s breakdown in the 2023 to 2025 seasons is as follows. Dates have not been announced.
2023
Home: Air Force, Colorado State, San Diego State, San Jose State
Away: Nevada, New Mexico, UNLV, Wyoming
2024
Home: Boise State, Nevada, New Mexico, UNLV
Away: Air Force, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State
2025
Home: Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State, Wyoming
Away: Boise State, Colorado State, San Jose State, UNLV
UH opens the 2022 season at home against Vanderbilt on Aug. 27.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.