Timeline  |  Sports Capsules  |  Awards & Honors  | Photo Gallery
All-Time Champions (Chronological | By Sport) 

HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i will officially exit the Western Athletic Conference on June 30, 2012, marking the end of 33 storied years in the league. During that time, the WAC helped foster UH's growth from a fledgling Division I program to one of the most competitive schools in the West region.
 
UH joined the conference in 1979 and in its inaugural season competed in a half dozen sports—all of them men's. Upon its exit, UH was competing in a combined 14 men's and women's sports. During its three-plus decades in the league, Hawai'i claimed 71 team and more than 175 individual championships, while sending countless of student-athletes to the pinnacle of competition both on the national and international stages.
 
The school's most indelible moments have been etched as WAC members. UH proved its worth on the field in its very first season in the league as the Rainbow baseball team swept Brigham Young for the 1980 WAC championship and eventually advanced to the College World Series, where they finished as national runner-up.
 
Recent history has also witnessed UH's ascend to the national stage. An undefeated 2007 regular-season—including a key win over Boise State—catapulted the football team to a Sugar Bowl appearance and earned record-breaking Warrior quarterback Colt Brennan a trip to New York City as a Heisman Trophy finalist. Meanwhile, the Rainbow Wahine softball team stormed through the WAC before eventually making it all the way to the 2010 College World Series, providing one of the most memorable postseason runs in school history.  
 
WAC titles were also a prelude for three NCAA individual champions within the last seven years—women's divers QiongJie Huang and Emma Friesen and women's high jumper Amber Kaufman.
 
However, no other program dominated the WAC like the women's volleyball team. Already boasting a resume of four national championships, the Rainbow Wahine made the jump—along with the UH's other women's programs—from the Big West Conference to the WAC in 1996. What ensued was a string of 16 straight years of at least a share of the regular-season or tournament championship. UH won both championships in 11 of its 16 seasons in the WAC and boasted an astounding 232-4 regular-season record (.983), which included an NCAA-record 132-match conference winning streak.
 
The Rainbow Wahine volleyball team captured both the regular season and tournament titles in 2011 and were one of three UH sports programs to be crowned champions in the school's final season in the conference. In addition, the women's tennis team made a historic run towards the WAC Tournament title and earned its first berth into the NCAA Championships; while softball claimed its fourth regular-season title with a dominating final run through WAC play.
 
UH departs the WAC as the senior member of the conference. Of the 24 former and current members of the league, only four other schools— UTEP (38), Brigham Young (37), Utah (37) and Wyoming (37)—have enjoyed longer longevity in the league than Hawai'i.