Word slowly trickled out Tuesday night that BYU could be leaving the Mountain West to go independent in football and join the Western Athletic Conference in every other sport.
Here's Andy Katz's report for ESPN.com and a couple other links as well.
On Twitter, @csufootball -- the official Twitter account for MWC member Colorado State University -- seemed to crystallize everything. The Tweet read: "@CSUFootball BYU to go independent in football in 2011. Cougars will join the WAC for all other sports. Press conference scheduled for Thursday."
(10 a.m. Wednesday update: That post has been taken down and Colorado State said the account had been hacked last night and again early this morning.)
(11 a.m. Wednesday update: Former Bee sportswriter Katz is reporting, via an anonymous source, that Fresno State received an invitation to join the suddenly unstable Mountain West on Tuesday. Fresno State said no, Katz reports. ... More on that later today ... )
(12 p.m. Wednesday update: The Salt Lake Tribune has reported that the deal is done, with final approval being sought from the Mormon church. The Deseret News said it's on the verge of being done and had a Utah State perspective.)
(2:30 p.m. Wednesday update: We dug up a statement Fresno State president John Welty sent out earlier this month. In it he writes: "The WAC Board of Directors has chosen to be an 8 team conference for the 2011-12 year and provide some time to assess options. This will allow the conference to take advantage of opportunties which may arise as a result of other changes across the country which may occur over the next several months."
Does that last sentence refer to this situation?)
(2:40 p.m. Wednesday update: We're getting no comments all around on this situation. Reached via phone, WAC commissioner Karl Benson had no comment. "Right now there isn't anything that I can say. I'm waiting for all the pieces to fall," he said.
Fresno State basketball coach Steve Cleveland also had no comment. Cleveland used to coach at BYU.
Boise State spokesman Max Corbet said the university would have no comment at this time.)
(3:00 p.m. Wednesday update: The Mountain West is publicly announcing invitations to Fresno State and Nevada. Why would either school want to go to the MWC now? Especially with a $5 million buyout from the WAC.)
If ths BYU-to-WAC deal goes through, this will be a positive impact for Fresno State -- and Bulldogs men's basketball in particular. The better the WAC, the better Fresno State's national standing. If BYU joins, the Cougars would arguably be the best men's hoops program in the conference, if not be significant contender for the conference crown each year.
BYU closed last season with a No. 22 rating in the ESPN/USA Today poll after the No. 7 seed Cougars lost 84-72 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to No. 2 seed Kansas State. Utah State and New Mexico State made the NCAAs from the WAC last season and both lost in the first round. Utah State has been a solidly successful program for years and NMSU has made noise as well, though some of it is drowned out by the negative hubbub related to the program's many player arrests. Nevada is the WAC's other prominent men's basketball squad.
BYU joining the WAC would also be good for Fresno because there is a strong Mormon community here.
A home-and-home series with Fresno State football would be a fine draw and mutually beneficial should the football team go independent. BYU football has been an MWC stalwart for years and was one of the reasons the conference was attractive.
BYU women's bball went to the quarters of the WNIT last season. The baseball team went 27-31.
Something else to consider on this subject: Where does Fresno State go from here? Because should the Cougars leave the MWC, will it then be looking for a team or two to join? Would Fresno State be on its list? Would Fresno State WANT to go now? If the Bulldogs leave the WAC, they'd move to a conference led by Boise State and TCU in football. But the MWC has many of the same caliber teams as the WAC. The bottom feeders bring down both conferences.
The only long-term solution for Fresno State is a coalition of the best schools from the WAC and the MWC. College football expansion is about money. The best move for these schools financially would be to chop the dead weight (Sorry, San Jose State etc.) and combine the best 12 schools from the two masses.
Someone needs to step up with the vision, the guts and the clout and make it happen.
Lastly, how embarased are you if you're Boise State? The MWC is crumbling and you haven't even played a league game yet. How long will it be until TCU leaves? Broncos fans better pray. Shoot, Boise State President Bob Kustra better be praying.
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