Mountain West looks to stay in-house to reach conference minimum
The Mountain West might not have to look outside the conference umbrella for its eighth full-time member.
While the public rumor mill has slowed the past few days, sources with knowledge of the process indicated conversations are ongoing about Hawaii joining the conference in all sports. Hawaii’s football team plays in the conference, but its other programs are part of the Big West.
The Mountain West is seeking one more full-time member beginning in the 2026-27 academic year to reach the NCAA’s threshold for conference recognition.
“We’ve been talking with them and have had some good discussions,” Hawaii athletic director Craig Angelos said Wednesday. “We’re just going to weigh all the options out there. We like the Big West. It’s a California league, and we’ve done well in those other sports. … But we think they’d be very competitive in the Mountain West, too.”
Nothing appears imminent
A move to the Mountain West is far from a done deal, though.
There are many factors for Hawaii to consider in a college sports landscape that was dramatically different from the last time the school faced a similar decision. That was in 2012, when the Western Athletic Conference fell apart and Hawaii joined the Mountain West for football and the Big West for all other sports.
At the time, Hawaii agreed to pay significant yearly travel stipends to Mountain West and Big West opponents to offset the costs they incurred for sending their athletic programs to the islands.
Those subsidies are not insignificant and are paid on top of Hawaii’s own travel to the mainland.
The school is now in a stronger negotiating position with the Mountain West seeking a new member after losing five schools last month to the Pac-12 beginning in the 2026-27 academic year.
UNLV rejected the Pac-12’s offer and agreed to a lucrative deal that will keep the school in the Mountain West with current members Air Force, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNR and Wyoming. UTEP agreed on Oct. 1 to join the conference, but a brief flirtation with Texas State fell apart.
The Mountain West now will try to lure Hawaii as a full-fledged member.
“There are some challenges, but I think it would be a good fit,” Angelos said.
What will it take?
Among the sticking points could be the Mountain West’s willingness to cut Hawaii a more favorable deal than the one agreed to last month. The school is to receive just 5 percent of the exit fee money from the five departing schools and potentially the poaching fee money that is the subject of a lawsuit between the Pac-12 and Mountain West.
There’s also the question of whether travel subsidies would remain part of any new deal. Hawaii would owe the Big West a $750,000 exit fee.
“That has been an issue we’ve talked about,” Angelos said of the travel subsidies. “That was put into play a number of years ago and, yeah, that’s probably something we would eventually like to see go away.”
The Pac-12 also needs one more member to reach the NCAA minimum after poaching Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State from the Mountain West. Oregon State and Washington State were the only Pac-12 schools remaining after realignment cost the league 10 schools.
The Pac-12 is not believed to have extended a formal offer to Hawaii, but the school’s place in the sports media landscape has increased in part because of its late-night time slot for football and appeal to the ever-expanding sports gambling market.
‘Love coming to Vegas’
Of interest in Southern Nevada could be the potential for UNLV and Hawaii to again compete in all sports instead of just football. The communities are closely tied, and acceptance in the Mountain West could strengthen that bond even more.
“We have a very nice presence in Las Vegas,” Angelos said. “We travel well and have a lot of people on the mainland and those areas. We love coming to Vegas. Our fans love coming to Vegas. It’s the Ninth Island as we know, so we’d love to have that rivalry not just in football but in other sports.”
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.