In taking over the sports world for a day, here are the three wishes:
>> It’s been 107 days since Craig Angelos exited as the University of Hawaii’s director of athletics. The $87,000 in severance checks have been distributed. The key to the courtesy car has been returned. And now we wait … and wait … for the process to find a replacement.
The plan, we’ve been told, is to assemble a search committee, whose recommendations will be forwarded to a selection panel, from which UH president Wendy Hensel will make a pick sometime, maybe, this summer. And that’s what it’s all about.
In the meantime, there is a local television contract to be finalized, positions to be evaluated, and budgets to be balanced.
So let’s skip a step. Is a search committee really necessary? Advertise the position, list the criteria (no felony convictions or UFO sightings, for starters) and commission a group to pare the list of applicants to three. Then invite the finalists to meet the coaches, staff and state lawmakers; tour the campus, and analyze the budget. With personnel officer Paula Asato’s approval, an AD could be in place by the end of the spring semester.
>> When 10 Pac-12 teams left for other conferences, the two abandoned schools — Washington State and Oregon State — were desperate to fill their 2024 football schedules. Both turned to the Mountain West, of which UH was a football-only member, for a little kokua. The Mountain West agreed to trim league play for each member from eight to seven games, with WSU or OSU becoming a nonconference replacement. WSU and OSU agreed to pay their way onto Mountain West schedules. They also promised to pay a poaching fee for each Mountain West team that jumped to the Pac-12. In a loyalty pact, each Mountain West team agreed to pay an exit fee if it left the league.
The Mountain West and its remaining members were expecting millions in exit and poaching fees after Boise State. Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State announced they were moving their sports teams to the Pac-12 on July 1, 2026.
But Washington State and Oregon State sued to void the poaching fees, arguing they were unfairly pressured to agree to the penalties. The five departing schools also are not keen on paying exit fees. The matter between the Pac-12 and Mountain West is headed for mediation. This promises to be a protracted process.
UH, which is promised about $5 million, should look at the big picture. A windfall, which probably will be reduced greatly, is a boon to the budget. But the Warriors still need to fill out future schedules. The wish here would be for the Warriors to waive their share of the exit fees in exchange for the departing teams agreeing to play future games at the Ching Complex.
>> A lesson of the College Football Playoff is a first-round bye might not be a just reward. Last season’s top four seeds all lost to teams that played opening-round games. Byes also were not helpful in last week’s Big West basketball tournaments.
The wish from here is all eight teams that qualify for the tournament must play in the opening round. The brackets usually are seeded according to the final regular-season standings. Let’s shake that up. What about letting the regular-season champion choose its opening-round opponent? Then the runner-up will get to pick its opponent from the remaining five teams. And No. 3 gets to pick. That format would reward a team for finishing first, as well as give it the option to avoid opening against an eighth-place team on a winning streak. Maybe playing a slumping sixth-place team is a more favorable matchup?
