There are guys who get giddy every time Jennifer Lopez goes through a breakup because, as they used to say back in the day, “get chance.”

It is the same beyond-reality wishfulness fans harbor about the University of Hawaii football team’s chances of joining a Power Five conference.

The fact is, last week’s news of UCLA and USC departing the Pac-12 for the Big Ten has zero impact on the Rainbow Warriors’ status. If a club loses make-it-rain members, it does not replace them with candidates who search the couch for loose change.

If Pac-12 members Washington, Oregon, Utah and Colorado also depart for, say, the Big 12 or another conference, there is a long, long line before UH hears “next” as a replacement.

And if every Pac-12 team leaves and every Mountain West team, of which UH Is a football-only member, joins to form a new Pac-12, it would not be the same. The only time that worked is when Journey changed its lead singer. The Mountain West is not Arnel Pineda, and a replacement Pac-12 would not be a Power Five conference.

UH football is competitive and has accomplished great things, and there is on-field potential to continue that. But football is football, and money is money, and Power Five schools have more money — for facilities, for coaches and, indirectly, for players.

There was a time when UH had the slimmest of chances of joining what was then the Pac-10. Dick Tomey, UH’s head coach at the time, had put together a football program that was competitive and ambitious. Tomey made it to the Pac-10 — as Arizona’s head coach in 1987.

In the early 1990s, UH athletic director Stan Sheriff and associate AD Rockne Freitas made a push to elevate the Warriors. But Freitas took an administrative job in the UH system, and Sheriff died on Jan. 16, 1993 — 17 days after the Warriors upset Illinois in the Holiday Bowl.

In 1993, Bob Wagner, who had succeeded Tomey as UH head coach in 1987, wrote “Getting the Edge: Hawaii Football,” which included a detailed plan on expanding fundraising and taking the Warriors to the next level. Instead, the UH administration tightened eligibility requirements and stalled capital-improvement projects while the University of Utah, University of New Mexico and Fresno State poured more money into their athletic programs. Utah, which envied UH’s football success in 1992, was admitted into the Pac-12 in 2011.

Power Five schools have created a gap in revenue and facilities that UH will never be able to narrow, especially now that players can profit from their names, images and likenesses. UH just does not have the resources — not when billionaires would rather buy islands than premium seats, not when some fans grumble about all games not being televised live and for free, not when a stadium deteriorated to the point where it is yellow-tape condemned.

The thing is, UH will never have the same bank statements, facilities or amenities as a Power Five school. The response should be: So what?

There is nothing wrong with dreaming within a program’s means. UH’s football goal should be to compete for a league title and a postseason bowl. If better scenarios happen, then they happen.

UH fans should embrace being entertained on a Saturday night by an innovative offense and aggressive defense, and root for a charismatic head coach who fosters a family atmosphere.

UH will never be USC or UCLA. But USC or UCLA will never have coaches who read to first-grade classes, shop at Costco and Longs, buy musubi at 7-Eleven, or have wives who lead football clinics.

Michigan once refused to release a pregame depth chart; the Warriors’ practices are open to the public.

Power Five programs travel on chartered planes; UH’s starting quarterback sits next to your uncle on commercial flights.

Some schools conduct summer workouts in 100-degree temperatures; UH breaks up the offseason grind with occasional workouts on Waikiki Beach.

The Warriors perform the ha‘a during warmups and sing along to their alma mater after the game.

UH will never get all that it wants, but it has what it — and its fans — need. That should be good enough.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@staradvertiser.com.