HONOLULU — The University of Hawaii is in talks with the Mountain West Conference about the prospect of full membership, UH Athletic Director Craig Angelos confirmed to Spectrum News on Thursday morning.

The Mountain West, of which UH has been a football-only member since 2012, is one short of the NCAA minimum of eight full members for an FBS conference and UH has emerged as a strong possibility to fulfill that requirement, the Action Network’s Brett McMurphy first reported Thursday.

What You Need To Know

  • The University of Hawaii is in talks with the Mountain West Conference on the prospect of full membership, UH Athletic Director Craig Angelos confirmed to Spectrum News

  • UH is a football-only member of the Mountain West, while most of its other sports have been in the Big West Conference since 2012

  • As part of a possible switch in affiliation for sports such as baseball, softball, men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball, UH could attempt to renegotiate the subsidies it currently pays to the MWC and BWC for teams to travel to the islands

  • The Mountain West needs to add an eighth full member to reach the NCAA minimum for an FBS conference

The Big West Conference has been UH’s home for nearly all of its non-football sports since 2012, and the Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine have succeeded in the California-based league in several of those sports — most notably men’s and women’s volleyball, women’s basketball and women’s water polo.

At issue is whether UH can leverage enough value to make a switch worth it.

When UH left the crumbling Western Athletic Conference with very little leverage after the 2011-12 athletic year, it agreed to pay subsidies to the Mountain West and the Big West for league opponents’ travel to the islands. It has remained a lingering sore spot for the Manoa athletic department, which is on the hook annually for hundreds of thousands of dollars with no reciprocal payment when UH competes on the Continental U.S.

After a flurry of moves in conference realignment over the past few weeks that saw five Mountain West teams announce plans to leave for the Pac-12 starting in 2026, the remaining Mountain West football schools, including UH, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to stay together through 2032.

But UH agreed to a share of only 5% of future exit fee and poaching fee money from the Pac-12 to the MWC that is expected to well exceed $100 million. Could UH renegotiate a better share, perhaps closer to the 11.5% offered to other members not named UNLV or Air Force? If it agrees to house most of its 20 sports in the MWC, can it get travel subsidies wiped out?

“All that is being discussed,” Angelos said in a message to Spectrum News. “No answers yet.”

UH could represent one of the Mountain West's best paths to reach eight full members. MWC overtures to Texas State of the Sun Belt and Tarleton State of the FCS have not bore fruit.

UH pays MWC opponents $150,000 to travel from the Pacific Time Zone and $175,000 from the Mountain Time Zone. Big West teams are owed a stipend of $500 per traveling team member, which adds up quickly considering the 10 sports in which the BWC travels teams for regular-season competition to the islands.

In the fiscal year 2018, UH listed $1.8 million in total travel subsidies and guarantees. In the same period, UH's own travel costs were $1.5 million.

The remaining Mountain West teams are UNLV, Air Force, Nevada, Wyoming, San Jose State and New Mexico. On Tuesday, UTEP was officially added starting in 2026. All are former WAC conference foes of UH. 

That lineup would represent a significant step up in competition and prestige in sports like men’s basketball — even without schools like San Diego State, Boise State or Colorado State, the MWC is still a formidable mid-major in hoops. But UH would have to weigh that against the added degree of difficulty and increased expenses to travel to the more far-flung MWC. In comparison, the Big West offers a lighter load as UH merely travels to Northern or Southern California on one flight per destination.

Sports UH competes in that are sponsored by the MWC are: baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's cross country, football, men's and women's golf, women's soccer, softball, men's and women's tennis, women's track and field, women's volleyball and women's swimming and diving. UH already competes with the Mountain West in esports.

It isn’t yet known what would happen to UH’s sports like men’s volleyball, beach volleyball, women’s water polo and men's swimming and diving, which aren’t sponsored by the Mountain West. UH would either have to join the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in those sports, or negotiate with the Big West to remain an affiliate member.

The Big West carries a $750,000 exit fee.

Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Spectrum News.

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