Mountain West Media Days are here, but this year comes with a twist: no preseason poll, even as Hawaiʻi quarterback Micah Alejado was named the conference’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. We talk about Alejado’s rise, Timmy Chang’s long-awaited extension, and what the new season could mean for UH football.

Then we ask the uncomfortable question: what if Hawaiʻi took $1 million from football and gave it to Wahine Volleyball? UH may never reach the new $5 million revenue-sharing cap for mid-majors, and even if it did, football still feels far away from national-title contention — but with more investment, Wahine Volleyball could realistically chase championships every year like it used to.

We also get into how NIL was supposed to distribute TV money more fairly to players and coaches, but has instead turned into fans being asked to fund the gap.

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The Boys dig into the Mountain West settlement and why UH’s payout appears to be a lot lighter than fans originally expected. (Which is what we said would happen.)

Instead of a major financial win, Hawaiʻi may be looking at less than half of the rumored number — another reminder that UH can’t afford to just sit back and hope the conference money saves them.

We also hit Mountain West Media Days, the Stanford opener, Micah Alejado’s preseason hype, and Timmy Chang finally getting his extension.

But the bigger question is still hanging over the whole episode: is UH using its limited money in the smartest way possible? Football gets the headlines, but in this new NIL world, maybe the championship path runs through Wahine Volleyball, men’s volleyball, baseball, or the sports where Hawaiʻi can actually become a national problem again.

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This week, we follow up on last episode’s conversation about the increasingly religious tone around the UH football program and what that means for the team’s identity.

Then we shift to North Dakota State, a program that didn’t move up to the FBS just to be another average mid-major — not after winning 10 FCS national championships since 2011.

That leads us back to the bigger question: what is the actual goal of being a mid-major in today’s college football world? With NIL money harder to raise at our level, and Power 5 benchwarmers getting paid while mid-majors fight for scraps, the gap feels wider than ever.

And with no Group of Six schools in the preseason AP Top 25, it feels like another sign of the times.

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