It’s time for the trust game.

You’re the University of Hawaii football team. The rest are the other 11 Mountain West Conference members. Fall backward and have faith they will catch you.

Of course, this could go two ways: 1) It will strengthen the trust, or 2) you’ll go splat and enter the concussion protocol.

Last week, Mountain West leadership began exploring the possibility of eliminating the two six-school divisions for football and allowing the league’s top two teams to play in the championship game. The theory is it will reward the two best teams regardless of geography, and perhaps bolster the chances of a Mountain West school being invited to the College Football Playoff or a New Year’s Six bowl. If approved, beginning with the 2023 regular season, it would be a good thing for the league, proponents promise. Right?

Sure, it would make sense that two 7-1 teams play for the title as opposed to a 7-1 team that won a head-to-head tie-breaker in one division facing a 5-3 opponent from the other division. And if one team dominates, the other 11 MWC members would benefit under the league’s share-the-wealth formula.

But the greater good might not be good for the Rainbow Warriors. The six current Mountain Division teams appear to have an environmental advantage over the six West schools, of which UH is one. The Mountain teams are located way above sea level, with the thinner air making quarterbacks’ grips drier and siphoning opposing players’ stamina. Nevada and UNLV are the only West teams located above sea level. And Boise State’s home field is blue, leading to another debate on advantages. (Before the NCAA discouraged camouflaging with all blue uniforms, the Broncos once had a second returner lie on the blue turf, then pop up for a lateral.)

Eliminating divisions also would lessen the Warriors’ bargaining power. As a football-only member, the Warriors have a time-share stake in the Mountain West. But without the need for a six-six divisional balance for a title game, is there a need for the Warriors as a 12th member?

At the football media days each year, commissioner Craig Thompson is asked about UH’s membership status, and he always emphasizes that the Warriors’ place is secure. The Warriors have had a successful and passionate football history, long-time affiliation with the other members, and a tie-in with the Hawaii Bowl. The Warriors also subsidize opposing team’s chartered travel to Oahu — $150,000 for West Coast teams, $175,000 for those from the Mountain time zone — and provide an NCAA exemption allowing opposing teams to play on Week Zero and add an extra regular-season game. What’s more, unless UCLA or USC wants to move from the Pac-12, there are no FBS school west of the Rocky Mountains that could replace Hawaii.

But while UH appears to have a secure future with the MWC, history has shown there are no guarantees. After the 1986 baseball season, the Pittsburgh Pirates dropped the Hawaii Islanders as a Triple-A affiliate. Distance and finances, particularly the one-sided arrangement between the Islanders and Aloha Stadium, were cited as reasons. But with 26 Major League Baseball clubs and 26 Triple-A teams, there were assurances the Islanders would find a match. They did, with the Chicago White Sox. But a year later, the Islanders relocated to Colorado Springs.

In 1998, the presidents of eight Western Athletic Conference schools met in a conference room at the Denver International Airport to plot a secession from the 16-team league to form the Mountain West. UH was among the eight schools abandoned. The secessionists did not notify then-WAC commissioner Karl Benson of their escape plans.

And, of course, a once sure thing — the Pro Bowl — will be returning … never.

For UH, it would help to expand and improve the Ching Complex, make cross-the-heart assurances a state-of-the-art stadium really will be built in Halawa, and promote Hawaii as the marketing gateway to Asia and Polynesia. UH’s long-term football future will depend on more than good-faith trust.