Conference Realignment: Pac-10 Playing Waiting With Utah This Time

The Pac-10 has gotten used to waiting. At least they should be at this point, after waiting over a week for an answer from Texas and the other three teams that were supposedly headed their way.

They may not have to wait too long this time,  however, after extending an conference invitation to the University of Utah.

While nothing is official yet, few people expect Utah to turn the invitation down.

What does this mean for the Mountain West at this point?

Less than a week after they added Boise State, one of the conference's biggest teams looks like it is headed out west, taking half of the Utah television market with them, while the other half remains with BYU.

When Boise State first came over, I thought the Mountain West might be interested in Fresno State, especially with the early rumors that Utah would be the 16th team to join the Pac-10.

But, after talking to a source out in Fresno, I quickly found out the Mountain West had absolutely no interest in Fresno State.

But not for the reasons you'd think.

According to the person I spoke with, the only reason Fresno State isn't already in the Mountain West is because of the past problems with Jerry Tarkanian and Ray Lopes, coaches who landed Fresno State in hot water with the NCAA.

While the university has distanced itself from both Tarkanian and Lopes, one person that has kept other conferences away is university president John Welty.

It doesn't quite make sense that one person would keep Fresno State from moving up in the world, but people close to the university are saying it's the only reason.

As I listened to a radio show on Wednesday afternoon out in San Diego, a lot of fans continued to bring up Fresno State. They seem to want the Bulldogs as Utah's replacement.

While Fresno State doesn't quite bring a large television market, the Bulldogs would bring a good football, basketball, and baseball program to the Mountain West, not to mention a long time rival with Boise State as well as a rivalry with both BYU and San Diego State from their days in the old WAC.

This is a great situation for Utah, and the Pac-10 will be a great place for them to land. They don't need to worry where the Mountain West goes from here, it won't be their problem to find a replacement.

While I've been told that the Mountain West may stand pat with what they have, I don't think that's the brightest move on their part.

You can't add Boise State, then lose Utah and tell the rest of the conference, not to mention the fans, "we're good."

The Mountain West wasn't held as a conference that could compete with the Big Ten's, the Big 12's or even the Pac-10's of the world before. If they don't replace Utah, how can they honestly say they're any better off than just after adding the Broncos?

Lawmakers in Utah have long contended that the BCS is unfair because it gives major conference schools an advantage over conferences like the Mountain West.

If the conference agrees with the lawmakers, they can not stand pat with where they are now.

They need to start looking at schools that can possibly bring the conference to 12-16 teams, add a conference championship game, and help lobby the BCS for an automatic bid.

A few teams that I would suggest the Mountain West look at would be SMU, Houston, UTEP, and Rice from Conference USA. And setting the rumors aside, Fresno State should also be on that list.

The Mountain West standing pat just tells everyone else that they are fine not playing for a national championship and they're fine just being another mid-major conference.

Boise State is a nice start. But it's not enough if the Mountain West wants to make a difference within college football.