Hawaii would care because I'm sure they want to grow the Big West brand outside of California. They already go to San Diego to play football against San Diego State. IMO, adding UCSD just doesn't add anything for Hawaii. I'm sure they would like to join the Mountain West for all sports.
They were playing for their coach all year after he was told this was it...then it is announced that he was coming back after the last game. Emotional let down?
The games versus FBS schools have to be scheduled years in advance. My guess is we are no longer scheduling multiple FBS games but have to play ones we already signed for. If not, we fork over cash to buy out the contract.