HONOLULU — As defectors prepared to take off from one conference to join another and at least one lawsuit flew overhead on Tuesday, the University of Hawaii figured its best course of action was to keep its proverbial helmet down.

UH has mostly remained silent during a wild 36 hours that have seen the Mountain West swing from near solidarity among its eight remaining football members, to a shaky future after Utah State accepted an invitation to the Pac-12 at the last moment Monday and caused the other seven to second-guess their position.

USU's move was officially announced by the Pac-12 on Tuesday night, while UNLV (to the Pac-12) and Air Force (to the American Athletic Conference) were still said to be weighing their futures. With USU’s defection, the Mountain West is already down to seven football members, one below what is required for a FBS conference.

UH Athletic Director Craig Angelos did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, though he acknowledged to Spectrum News on Monday that the situation was “changing by the minute.”

Communication was reportedly made, at least on a superficial level, between UH and the Pac-12 and Conference USA.

Meanwhile, UH coach Timmy Chang led the 2-2 Rainbow Warriors in a resumption of practice at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex on Tuesday morning.

It is UH’s second bye week of the season coming off the team’s best performance of 2024, a 36-7 rout of FCS Northern Iowa.

Chang said he was more concerned about “tightening the screws” on UH’s readiness for its Mountain West opener at San Diego State on Oct. 5 than the hour-by-hour – sometimes minute-by-minute – updates on the conference’s jostling with the Pac-12 appearing on social media.

The Pac-12 filed a lawsuit against the Mountain West Tuesday arguing that the “poaching” fee the conferences agreed to for a 2024 scheduling partnership was too steep. Four Mountain West teams – Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State and San Diego State – have officially joined the Pac-12 starting in 2026 while Utah State is expected to join them.

With five defectors, the Pac-12 would owe the Mountain West $67.5 million if it is held to the language of the agreement. In addition, each departing program must come up with an exit fee of over $17 million.

“You hear what’s going on, don’t really know much about anything out of my control, and so don’t really focus on it,” Chang said. “You hear guys are moving here, guys are moving there, but at the same time you’re going to play some of these guys.

“We just kind of control what happens in between the lines, and where we’re at and what we can get better. If we can just get those things done, I think we’ll be fine.”

He said he was confident the MWC’s 11 other head coaches feel the same way, and that he had not been approached by Angelos for input. UH, San Jose State, Wyoming, New Mexico and Nevada are the MWC football members that would seem to have few options, if any.

Asked if he’d heard of reports that dissolution of the MWC is one possible scenario sought by the Pac-12 to avoid paying the millions in poaching and exit fees – a three-fourths vote of the MWC membership is required for such an outcome – Chang demurred.

“Again, I don’t know. I really don’t,” he said. “One thing that happens is, by time zone and distance, I really don’t know what’s happening, other than the film we’re watching on our opponents and those type of things that we focus our attention to.”

UH linebacker Jamih Otis and lineman Elijah Robinson helped the Rainbow Warriors to a season-best defensive performance against UNI with 199 yards allowed. Neither of them was too invested in the politics playing out miles away – including in Otis’ hometown of Las Vegas.

“I see a lot of teams moving to other conferences, and I think that’s pretty good for them, but I feel like we’re working on building something here, so that’s my main focus,” said Otis, who recorded a sack and a fumble recovery on consecutive plays in the first quarter.

Said Robinson, a North Carolina native who spent three years at East Carolina of the AAC, “I haven’t paid too much attention, being (that) I’m in my seventh season. This’ll be my last year, so what happens won’t really affect me much. But it’d be cool to see Hawaii step into a Power Five conference, however it works, wherever God’s plan is.

Coming off a 35-for-43 passing game for 374 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions, starting quarterback Brayden Schager rested on the sideline Tuesday while his primary backups, John-Keawe Sagapolutele and Micah Alejado, led the way in drills.

Sagapolutele played in his second game of his redshirt freshman year on Saturday while Alejado made his debut. They alternated snaps on UH’s last drive of the game, with Alejado completing his only throw for 5 yards. Sagapolutele has yet to attempt a pass in his two games.

“Until the last weeks, the Mountain West Conference and UH had weathered the waves of conference realignment over the past few years," said the University of Hawaii in a statement late Tuesday afternoon. "At this moment, the situation is incredibly dynamic right now and any specific statement might be out-of-date within an hour. But we are working closely with our Mountain West colleagues to assure that our Rainbow Warriors can compete at the highest level. We appreciate all the support from the Hawaii community and hope they will stand with our team whatever the outcome.”

Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from the University of Hawaii. (Sept. 24, 2024)

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.