UH Timeline In The WAC
May 2, 1977 - The University of Hawai'i is extended a membership invitation into the Western Athletic Conference.
Sept. 29, 1978 - UH is officially is approved as a member effective July 1, 1979.
Sept. 8, 1979 - In its WAC debut, the UH football team falls to Utah, 27-23, at Aloha Stadium. Hawai‘i picks up its first WAC win in its next game two weeks later with a 20-3 victory over New Mexico.
June 6, 1980 – After sweeping Brigham Young in the WAC playoffs, the Rainbow baseball team advances to the College World Series where they fall one win short of a national title.
Feb. 14, 1981 – In just its second season in the WAC, the men’s basketball team pulls off a Valentine’s Day upset over the No. 6-ranked Utah Utes who entered the game with a 21-1 record and an unblemished league mark.
June 4, 1981– Football player Blaine Gaison becomes the first UH representative to win the prestigious Stan Bates Award as the WAC’s top scholar athlete.
May 10, 1981 - Brandon Kop claims the individual title at the WAC Golf Championships in Provo, Utah.
Feb. 17, 1984 – Rainbow Stadium—later renamed Les Murakami Stadium—makes its debut in the baseball team’s 5-3 loss to USC. UH would lead the country in attendance twice within a decade of its opening and the 208,378 fans that came through the gates in 1992 set a then-NCAA record.
March 1985 – The men’s swimming squad wins its second straight WAC title and finishes 18th at the NCAA Championships.
December 1986 – Defensive lineman and WAC Player of the Year Al Noga is selected to the Associated Press All-America first team, the first and only UH football player since to earn the distinction.
March 16, 1989 – In his second year as head coach, Riley Wallace leads the men’s basketball team into the NIT after a 14-year hiatus from the postseason. UH ends the season with 17 wins for the greatest turnaround in school history.
Oct. 28, 1989 – The football squad’s cathartic 56-14 win over nationally-ranked Brigham Young highlights a nine-win season in which UH makes its first NCAA-sanctioned bowl game appearance.
Dec. 30, 1992 – After claiming a share of its first WAC championship, the UH football team is victorious in its first mainland bowl appearance with a Holiday Bowl win over Illinois.
March 12, 1994 – The men’s basketball team upsets Brigham Young for its first-ever WAC Tournament title and advances to the NCAA Tournament for the just the second time in school history.
Oct. 21, 1994 – The Special Events Arena—later renamed the Stan Sheriff Center—officially opens to a sold-old crowd and begins a stretch of 18 straight seasons in which the Rainbow Wahine volleyball program leads the nation in attendance.
July 1, 1996 - Six years after the WAC merges with the High Country Athletic Conference to form a single conference for men’s and women’s athletics, Hawai‘i’s women’s teams move to the WAC from the Big West Conference.
May 1996 - Mike Pavao becomes just the second golfer to win a WAC individual title and later finishes as the NCAA West Regional runner-up, just one stroke behind Stanford’s Tiger Woods.
Feb. 19, 1998 – With a 69-51 win at Tulsa, the women’s basketball team wins its school-record 19th game in a row en route to its first and only regular-season championship.
Nov. 28, 1998 – Hawai‘i and Brigham Young meet in an epic WAC Women’s Volleyball Tournament final as the Rainbow Wahine win, 15-12, 21-19, 13-15, 16-18, 24-22, in the longest match in NCAA history.
Dec. 25, 1999 – Led by National Coach of the Year June Jones, the Warrior football team caps an NCAA-record turnaround season by defeating Oregon State 23-17 in the Oahu Bowl. UH finishes with nine wins, a year removed from going 0-12.
Jan 7, 2000 – Legendary coach Les Murakami, winner of more than 1,000 games at UH, is inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
May 16-19, 2001 - After a 16-year hiatus, the Rainbow Wahine track program is reinstated and makes its debut in the WAC Championship. Cheryl Smith claims the 10,000-meter event and later that fall becomes UH first-ever WAC cross country champion.
March 9, 2002 – A week after staking a share of the regular-season title, the men’s basketball team defeats host Tulsa for its second straight WAC Tournament title.
Sept. 14, 2003 – Three-time WAC Soccer Player of the Year Natasha Kai scores a school record five goals against Morehead State en route to the NCAA scoring title. Kai helps UH win the first of its three league titles later that year.
Nov 6, 2004 – Timmy Chang surpasses former Hesiman Trophy winner Ty Detmer’s record for NCAA career passing yards in a win over Louisiana Tech.
March 17, 2005 - QiongJie Huang claims the 1-meter springboard at the NCAA Championships to become the first diver in school history to win a national title.
May 20, 2007 – The softball team defeats Loyola Marymount in the NCAA Regional to become the first WAC softball team to advance to a Super Regional.
Dec. 1, 2007 – The football team defeats Washington to complete an undefeated regular season behind quarterback Colt Brennan, the school’s first Heisman Trophy finalist.
Jan. 1, 2008 –Hawai‘i becomes the second WAC team to play in a BCS bowl game in two years, taking on Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
March 21, 2008 – Emma Friesen becomes the second UH diver in four seasons to win an NCAA title with a victory in the 1-meter springboard.
April 26, 2009 – Hosting the WAC Tournament in Honolulu, the men’s tennis team wins the second of three straight league titles.
Oct. 17, 2009 – The women’s volleyball team defeats New Mexico State as Hall of Fame coach Dave Shoji becomes just the second coach in history to win 1,000 career matches.
May 30, 2010 – The women’s softball team upsets top-seeded Alabama in the NCAA Super Regionals and advances to the College World Series for the first time in school history.
June 9, 2010 - Amber Kaufman captures the school’s first track and field national championship in 26 years after winning the high jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Dec. 10, 2010 – Hawai‘i announces that its sports teams will join the Big West Conference and Mountain West Conference beginning in the 2012-13 season.
June 6-8, 2011 - After claiming a share of its first regular-season WAC championship in nearly two decades, the baseball team has a school-record seven players selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Nov. 25, 2011 – The women’s volleyball team captures the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas to conclude a dominate run in the WAC that included 16 straight seasons with a WAC title and a 232-4 regular-season record.
April 28, 2012 - The women’s tennis squad upsets Fresno State—its third straight dramatic victory—to claim its first-ever WAC championship and earn its first-ever berth into the NCAA Tournament.
June 30, 2012 – UH will exit the WAC after 33 years of membership.
