HONOLULU – It won’t just be football in the Mountain West anymore.  

First reported by Brett McMurphy of the Action Network, Hawai’i has agreed to become the eighth full member of the Mountain West Conference, effective July 1, 2026. Both the Mountain West Conference and the University of Hawai’i confirmed the news on Tuesday morning, seeing 15 of UH’s athletic programs move into the MWC full-time with Olympic sport programs (water polo, men’s volleyball, beach volleyball, men’s swimming & diving) exploring remaining in the Big West as affiliate members. 

(Note: The Mountain West Conference does not currently support / have enough participation from member schools for water polo, men’s volleyball, beach volleyball or men’s swimming and diving.)

The move satisfies the FBS requirements for an NCAA conference and ends over a decade of the Rainbow Warriors being football-only members of the Mountain West. As part of Hawai’i’s move, the Mountain West will cover the $750,000 exit fee to the Big West for UH and will see the end of paying travel subsidies to other conference members.

The move comes as part of the second round of conference realignment that has seen the Mountain West and Pac-12 fighting with each other for schools while looking to other conferences to fill in the gaps. Back on September 26, seven schools (including UH) re-affirmed their commitment to the MWC with an intention to execute a Grant of Media Rights from member institutions to the conference from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2032. 

“We are thrilled to welcome the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa as a full-time member,” Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement. “Hawai’i 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.”

The Pac-12, led by Oregon State and Washington State, poached five schools in Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Utah State and San Diego State from the MWC after one year of a scheduling agreement between the sister conferences. The movement could cost nearly $150 million in poaching and exit fees to be paid to the Mountain West while the new Pac-12 still looks for another full-time member to complete their rebuild.

Hawai’i and Pac-12 officials held exploratory conversations around bringing the Rainbow Warriors into the league, though the sides split without an invite being extended to UH due to further financial fees the conference would be forced to pay. Instead, Angelos and Hawai’i entered talks with the Mountain West about the full membership, moving forward and eventually resulting in a move that many around the Hawai’i athletic department believe will be good for student-athletes and overall financial standing as the college landscape continues to change.

According to Hawai’i AD Craig Angelos, who appeared on ‘Wake Up in the Den with Ku’ulei Agbayani’ on Tuesday morning before his press conference, UH was happy to remain as a football-only member of the Mountain West before the second round of conference realignment began and the Pac-12’s poaching shook up the status quo. Only then was Hawai’i forced to consider a potential move from the Big West for more programs as the landscape across college athletics became unstable again.

“We kept [the Big West] updated on where that was probably heading and [Big West commissioner Dan Butterly] understood in [today’s college athletics landscape] that it might make the best sense for us,” Angelos said. “He was still very interested in keeping us and treated us very well and so we’re hopeful that maybe our other four sports can stay in [the Big West] when we do leave, because there is no home for them in the Mountain West Conference.”

If Hawai’i were to remain in the Big West for the four sports, it could cost approximately $25,000 per sport per year as an affiliate member fee. UH would also need the approval of the board of directors of the Big West to be an affiliate member for it to be an option for the programs, otherwise a move to the MPSF would seem likely.

In terms of the travel subsidies that Hawai’i pays as part of the Big West currently, Angelos acknowledged that those could remain for the three sports that travel (men’s swimming & diving goes to a year-end tournament, does not travel back-and-forth), though it has not been discussed yet. Hawai’i programs won’t pay travel subsidies as new members of the Mountain West.