The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors will become a full-time member of the Mountain West Conference in 2026, the league announced Tuesday.
Hawaii will officially become a full-time member of the Mountain West and compete in all sports beginning on July 1, 2026. The school is currently a member in football only, with its remaining sports in the Big West Conference.
“We are thrilled to welcome the University of Hawaiʻi to the Mountain West as a full-time member,” said MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez. “Hawaiʻi has been a tremendous football-only member since 2012, and we’re excited to add their incredible national brand across all MW sports. As the flagship institution on the islands, with extraordinary academics and a celebrated athletics tradition, we look forward to providing their student-athletes with exceptional educational and athletic experiences.”
With the addition of Hawaii in all sports beginning in 2026, the Mountain West now has the required minimum number of full-time institutions — eight — to meet the NCAA requirement for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences.
“This is a momentous day for University of Hawai‘i Athletics,” said UH Athletics Director Craig Angelos. “We’ve had the privilege of being a football-only member in the Mountain West for the last dozen years. Now the majority of our sports will enjoy the same experience of competing in this exceptional conference. Joining the Mountain West allows us to renew historic rivalries, creates opportunities for increased exposure, and provides stability in the constantly evolving world of collegiate athletics.”
Beginning in the fall of 2026, the Mountain West will include Air Force, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San José State, UNLV, UTEP, and Wyoming.
Per the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the move also means that Hawaii will no longer have to pay travel subsidies to visiting teams.
The subsidies — “travel cost sharing,” in contractual terms — amount to the equivalent of covering charter flights for visiting football teams. That amount ranges from $150,000 to schools in Pacific time zone to $175,000 for teams on Mountain time.
Future Hawaii Football Schedules
The Mountain West will be back where it was from 1999-2005, and 2011-12 with 8 members. UNLV, UNM, Wyoming, and AF will be the only remaining original members. The other 4 were in the WAC at some point.
I wonder if the Big West will look to replace Hawai’i at all. I would love to see Sac State and/or Cal Baptist join the Big West, but I don’t see that happening. Maybe they’ll be content with 10 members.
I think if the Big West does expand, they will look to D2. It was ridiculous a month ago, but I now see Sacramento State going to the PAC-12. Cal Baptist would be a good fit if the Big West is okay with taking a private school.
Cal Baptist will likely go to the WCC now that Gonzaga is leaving. Sacramento State should downgrade to football-only membership in the Big Sky and join the Big West for other sports. The Big West should also add Cal State LA (a charter member that left in 1974, Cal Poly Pomona, and Cal State San Bernardino to go to 14.
Sac State has a 0& chance of going to the Pac-12. If UNLV isn’t willing or able to spend $60M on athletics every year how will Sac State?
I think Sac State has some weird contract that has them stuck in the Big Sky, because UC Davis and Cal Poly are football-only members of the Big Sky, but in the Big West for everything else. If Sac State wanted to and was allowed to join the Big West, they would have moved there years ago.
I don’t think the other Big West schools would be against inviting Cal Baptist because they already play a lot of Big West schools in non-conference play, and they’re located right down the road from UC Riverside. Plus, University of the Pacific (a private school) was in the Big West for decades.
We’ll see, my guess is that the Big West will stay at 10 for the time being, and maybe CBU will go to the WCC if the WAC collapses.
As for Sac State, I think there’s a small chance they go to the Mountain West, but I really think they’re not going anywhere.
Money talks, right?
CSUSac alums are accumulating massive amounts of donations and support for an invite.
AND, if YOU were the Pac7 up against deadline and desperate for 8th conference member …
OK, Here’s your invite.
Branding then changes to “California State”. Place yer bets.
Evan, Matt Groom, Z-Man, Bison Jim, Keeper, Dan Rakow, David, @KevinKelleyFB,
I am very sad that the P.A.C.2 are so proud in their self importance.
Instead of having a united conference with the ferocity of a Bear ( the top 3 – 4 Teams each year), TheMW.com & pac12.com are a flock of Seagulls, turkey Buzzards or Crows competing for Dependent 5 Conference scraps.
The as of now, non existent MW or PAC with 13 Geographically & culturally contiguous State Teams, plus Uni. Hawai’i Manoa as a football only member paying other member conference teams the necessary expenses of flying 3 time zones is a huge financial drag on the future reconstituted MW.
Out the window is: a Football Conference which would have a profitable economic, culturally homogenous, geographically tight, except 4 Uni. Hawai’i, footprint.
More economically stable than the AAC Football programs disconnections to each other.
A common sense geo-cultural connection as strong as @SunBeltConf & #MACtion have.
Except, this conference is fiction.
New Mexico State should be next.
Fully agree with you Z-Man New Mexico State Aggies deserves be in Mountain West.
If the NCAA changes the FBS minimum to 7 members and the MW adds NMSU, I could see Air Force and Colorado State playing each other in a non-conference game every year on Thanksgiving weekend.
The conference games in the Pac-12 that weekend would then be:
Boise State-Utah State
Fresno State-San Diego State
Oregon State-Washington State
The conference games in the MW on Thanksgiving weekend could be:
Hawaii-San Jose State
Nevada-UNLV
New Mexico-Wyoming
New Mexico State-UTEP
New Mexico State should be worth something before anyone adds them
Z-Man I know you like CFB on Thanksgiving weekend & I want to apologize that I am not a fan of your Thanksgiving weekend request for certain games that you want to see being played.
It’s blessing to me that My fourth favorite in Big Ten is any teams that play at 3:30PM airing on CBS including your Ohio State Buckeyes in addition to Northwestern Wildcats, Illinois Fighting Illini & Michigan Wolverines.
Good News that Northwestern-Illinois, Michigan Ohio State, Arizona State-Arizona & Georgia-Georgia Tech are My top four CFB games that I like being played on Thanksgiving weekend.
It’s Hawai’i. ‘ is a letter known as an ‘okina.
The University uses it, so omitting it is like talking about Alabaa.
I was born in Hawai’i so by state law, I’m free to butcher the spelling. ;)
To Kevin Kelly As a fan of Gilligan’s Island did you know that castaways pretended to be in Hawaii during classic 1960’s TV classic comedy series.
Here are My tri-favorite episodes from Gilligan’s Island.
1. Good Bye Island (Season 1 Black & White)
2. Hi-Fi Gilligan (Season 2 This Program in color)
3. Splashdown (Season 3 This Program in color)
I keep telling all of you. The merger happens soon. All current Mountain West schools, Oregon State, Washington State, Gonzaga, New Mexico State, and UTEP are forming the new Pacific Athletic Conference (PAC).
With Gonzaga as a non-football member, the new PAC has 17 schools (16 in football). The divisions align as follows:
Mountain Division = Pod A (Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, and Wyoming) + Pod D (New Mexico, New Mexico State, Utah State, and UTEP
Pacific Division = Pod B (Fresno State, Hawaii, San Diego State, and San Jose State) + Pod C (Gonzaga (non-FB), Oregon State, Nevada, UNLV, and Washington State)
In both men’s and women’s basketball, each school would play two teams both home and away, seven home only, and seven away only for a total of eighteen teams every season.
An example of this is Gonzaga, who would play both Washington State and Oregon State both home and away. Its seven home-only foes in 2026-27 are Air Force, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah State, and Wyoming. Its seven away-only games are Boise State, Colorado State, New Mexico State, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV, and UTEP. The home- and away-only foes reverse for 2027-28. The format continues every season.
#BackthePAC
I rather see divisions in High School Football where I live in Chicagoland than in College Football.
CFB is excellent without divisions.
The two leagues are at odds with eachother so I doubt they’ll merge.
Dittos to what Evan said “The two leagues are at odds with each other so I doubt they’ll merge.”
Sad.
A merger under any Brand would represent a Strong Western Based Conference.
Reason A. Geographical sense, except for Uni. Hawai’i: who is a contributing football member. All Hawai’i s other Sports do not lose $oney belonging to the Big West. Hawai’i – Manoa should be required to continue paying MW football teams to fly 3 Time Zones west over the Pacific ocean.
B. An undivided western Conference would make this Champion a likely winner of Best Dependent 5 playoff Candidate over the AAC, making the conference financially viable.
C.The MountainWest conference has been the stable conference.
They broke from the WAC in 1998 to create a sustainable model.
When Utes, Horned Toads, & Cougars departed in 2010-11 they took the BSU Broncos & other sensible additions, exception:Uni. Hawai’i football, ending the WAC’s football life.
WSU is a ID/WA inland school, FRSU in San Joaquin Valley. U know where BSU, USU, UNLV, UNV, UNM, UWY, COSU, AFA are.
Only SDSU, SJSU, ORSU are close to the ocean, with Hawai’i as far away as flying to the Eastern State of Maine. The Inland schools fly so much further, with Hawai’s having to travel.
TheMW.com pac-12.com