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The Mountain West and Conference USA will form a football-only alliance, hoping their partnership will help foster stability and get them an automatic spot into the BCS.

And if it helps keep Boise State, Air Force and UCF in their leagues, the better.

All three schools are in discussions about possibly joining the Big East. Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson and C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky confirmed those talks, but had little to say about whether or not they expected their respective members to leave. If Boise State and Air Force go, they would be football-only members in the Big East and in need of finding a home for their other sports. UCF would be a full member of the Big East.

There also is no word on the likelihood this alliance would get an automatic BCS bid. Still, both commissioners felt making this move was in the best interest of their respective conferences.

1. Texas A&M president R. Bowen Loftin didn’t need to wrap himself in the American flag Wednesday. “We're being told that, ‘You must stay here against your will,’” Loftin said, “and we think that really flies in the face of what makes us Americans…and makes us free people.” Loftin might think twice about extolling patriotic attributes when A&M is turning its back on a league it pledged to support a year ago. You want to leave? Fine. But Americans like people who stand by their friends through thick and thin, too.

2. Everyone assumes that 16-team leagues are inevitable. There has been little discussion of the logistical nightmares hidden within. Schedules don’t balance. Teams could go seven seasons without playing each other. That’s a conference? “They aren’t conferences. They are consortiums,” Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson told me. His league was created in 1999 when eight members seceded after playing three years in the 16-team WAC. Super conferences may bring riches. But they’ll bring problems, too.

3. The late Ron Schipper began as Central (Iowa) College head coach in 1961. He retired in 1996 with 287 wins and the 1974 Division III national title. Schipper served as president of the American Football Coaches Association and on the NCAA Football Rules Committee. He has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. Central will celebrate the golden anniversary of Schipper’s tenure Saturday with a reunion of his first team and a display of memorabilia from his storied career. It’s a fitting tribute to one of the game’s little-known stalwarts.

When the Mountain West decided to invite Boise State to join the conference last summer, it figured it was enhancing its chances to get an automatic qualifying bid for the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

My how things change.

When Boise State agreed to join the league starting this season, Utah, BYU and TCU were still members. Had the league retained all four schools, it would have been well positioned to become a seventh AQ. But Utah decided to join the Pac-12 and BYU went independent for 2011 and TCU will move on to the Big East in 2012.

That leaves the Mountain West a vastly different league than the one that has accrued so many points in the three criteria it must meet to gain AQ status. With the departure of those three schools, the Mountain West has added Nevada, Fresno State and Hawaii to fill in for them -- essentially a better version of the WAC. Boise State and Hawaii have made it into BCS games, so that helps. It also helps that the Mountain West will be able to count everything TCU has done during this current evaluation period.

As it stands now, the Mountain West ranks No. 4 in the average rank of its highest-ranked team, ahead of the Big Ten, ACC and Big East. The MWC is No. 5 in the number and ranking of teams in the Top 25. But it is No. 7 in the average computer ranking of all teams in the conference. The Mountain West must be in the top 6 in this category to qualify. The league has an average rank of 63, well behind the Big East's average rank of 50.

That means schools like New Mexico and UNLV have to vastly improve this season for that number to improve. It appears as though the Mountain West will fall short of meeting the criteria, so it will have to petition to the Presidential Oversight Committee for a waiver. Whether that waiver is granted is anyone's guess.

"I wish it were as simple as saying if we had two 10-win teams, five eight wins teams and a 6-6 team ... but it's not that simple," MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said. "We have performed at a very high level, gone to three straight BCS games, but we probably need to have minimally one if not two Top 25 teams and then we can't afford to have one- or two-win teams."

Is the Mountain West deserving when the league will be a completely different composition than the one that got them so many of its BCS appearances and Top 25 finishes?

"It is a different look, but we also are adding Boise State, 2-0 in BCS bowl games," Thompson said. "Hawaii played in the Sugar Bowl, so we are replacing people with BCS performers."

The fact remains that no non-AQ team has ever played in a BCS national championship game. No one-loss non-AQ team has made it into a BCS game period. Even if the Mountain West does get an AQ bid, there are no guarantees it would get any closer to getting into a national championship game. Conference expansion did little to enhance the MWC cause.

The last time I spoke to Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson, he made it seem pretty clear that his league would fall short of meeting specific criteria to become an automatic qualifying conference for the last two years of the current BCS cycle. The reason: The bottom of the league is dragging the MWC down when it comes to the overall strength of the conference.

The San Diego Union-Tribune confirmed that with a report on Friday after obtaining a league document that showed where the Mountain West stood headed into the final year of the BCS evaluation process. Sure enough, the league falls short in one of the three required categories -- overall conference strength.

As it stands now, the Mountain West ranks No. 4 in the average rank of its highest-ranked team, ahead of the Big Ten, ACC and Big East. The MWC is No. 5 in the number and ranking of teams in the Top 25. But it is No. 7 in the average computer ranking of all teams in the conference. The Mountain West must be in the top 6 in this category to qualify. The league has an average rank of 63, well behind the Big East's average rank of 50.

It is going to be almost impossible for the league to jump ahead of the Big East this season, the final one in an evaluation process that began in 2008. That would leave an appeal to the BCS presidential oversight committee. And that brings me to the point of this post. The BCS should grant that appeal for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

Why? First, it would go a long way toward showing that this indeed is an inclusive system, what with the Department of Justice inquiring about football being the only postseason in college sports without a playoff. It would go a long way when it comes to a potential lawsuit Utah's attorney general plans to bring, accusing the BCS of violating anti-trust laws. It would validate a league that has proved to be deserving of a spot in a BCS game. Indeed, the Mountain West has lost only once in its BCS appearances -- and that was TCU to Boise State, which will begin Mountain West play this season. Not only that, the league has been solid in postseason play, winning two straight Bowl Challenge Cups and four overall.

There are plenty of arguments against this happening. The Mountain West in 2012 will look nothing like it did when the evaluation process began in 2008. TCU and Utah, the two teams that have represented the Mountain West in BCS games will no longer be in conference in 2012. Neither will BYU, which has posted Top 25 finishes to help boost the league average in that category. But Boise State has been a flagship non-AQ team and that should make the Mountain West attractive to the BCS.

Hawaii, which joins in 2012, also has a BCS appearance. Nevada is on the rise. Fresno State has been in the national conversation before. Say a Mountain West team gets the AQ bid with four losses. Would that be more embarrassing than a Big East team that qualified with four losses this past season?

Then there is the money, another big reason why this is a long shot. Making the MWC an auto qualifier almost certainly would mean taking away an at-large berth from one of the bigger leagues. Taking away an at-large berth means taking away money, a scenario that would not sit well with those who control the BCS process.

If this were to happen, what about the other non-AQ conferences? They should still be eligible for an at-large berth, based on the current guidelines. But you would be hard pressed to find somebody who would argue that another league deserves an AQ bid over the Mountain West. The MWC has earned the right to at least get a spot in the BCS for the next few seasons because of its on-field play. Then the BCS can re-evaluate what it wants to do. Or maybe there will not even be a BCS when it comes time to re-evaluate.

The Mountain West needs a banner year from all its teams in 2011 to meet the criteria laid out to become an automatic qualifier. Commissioner Craig Thompson confirmed as much in an interview Thursday. This upcoming season is absolutely critical because it is the final year in a four-year cycle of evaluation for non-AQ conferences that want to become automatic qualifying conferences for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

The top-half of the league has never been a problem. Despite Utah leaving, Boise State joins and the Mountain West gets to count its credentials dating to the first year of the cycle, 2008. TCU also counts because it will still be a member of the league when the evaluation takes place in December. That means the Mountain West has had three representatives in BCS games.

But what has been missing are quality teams top to bottom. As an example, he cited the ACC. The league had nine teams qualify for bowl games in 2011. Its weakest teams were 3-9. Meanwhile, the Mountain West had New Mexico finish at 1-11 and UNLV at 2-10, with Wyoming and Colorado State at 3-9.

"We’ve played in BCS games, but I read a recent Q&A with [Commissioner] John Swofford of the ACC," Thompson told me. "Their strength is 12. I am not badmouthing any of our teams, but we need to have our sixth, seventh and eighth finishing teams have better seasons, period."

What could really end up hurting the Mountain West is losing BYU from the calculations. In the final BCS standings, BYU finished No. 14 in 2009 and No. 16 in 2008. Aside from TCU and Boise State, no other team on the current MWC roster has finished with a Top 25 BCS ranking during this qualification period of 2008, 2009 and 2010. Only TCU, Boise State and Air Force have posted winning records in all three seasons.

As a refresher, here are the criteria. A conference becomes the seventh AQ if it:

1. Finishes among the top six conferences in the average ranking of its highest ranked team in the BCS standings.
2. Finishes among the top six in the average conference ranking as determined by the computers the BCS uses.
3. If its ranking in Top 25 performance is equal to or greater than 50 percent of the conference with the highest ranking.

The conference is solidly in the top 6 in criteria No. 1. According to Thompson, the Mountain West ranks No. 7 among the conferences in the average conference rankings. I asked him if there was a way to figure out what the Mountain West teams would have to do this season to meet the criteria and he said there was not because it all depends on how the other conferences perform.

Air Force and San Diego State each went 9-4 last season, so that helps. But San Diego State was also 6-18 in 2008 and 2009. Wyoming, New Mexico, UNLV and Colorado State are going to have to pick it up. Here are their combined records in the last three years:

• Wyoming: 14-23. Lone winning season, 2009 at 7-6.
• Colorado State: 13-24. Lone winning season, 2008 at 7-6.
• UNLV: 12-25
• New Mexico: 6-30, including two back-to-back 1-11 campaigns.

Of the four teams listed above, I think Colorado State has the best chance of at least getting to a bowl game. The Rams have 15 starters returning, including quarterback Pete Thomas, who showed plenty of promise as a true freshman last season. New Mexico is in disarray; UNLV needs more time to rebuild; and Wyoming needs a new quarterback. It would certainly help if San Diego State or Air Force became a third ranked team, but it is overall conference strength where the Mountain West needs a boost.

The Mountain West would still need to meet certain criteria in order to apply to the Presidential Oversight Committee. If that happens, Thompson said he had no idea what the chances would be of getting an exemption and becoming AQ.

"I would hate to speculate," he said. "It’s now encouraging that every conference has a presidential oversight board seat. At least we’re at the table and able to state a case as necessary."

I just had a chance to speak with Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson on a variety of topics. Thompson has been a busy man of late, having just returned from Las Vegas after a two-day Board of Directors meeting. Part I focuses on expansion, why the league decided to stand at 10 teams, and why there will be no further discussion of a potential championship game with Conference USA.

Part II focuses on the league’s quest to become an automatic qualifier, coming later this afternoon. Here are a few of his comments.

Why did the league decide it was best to stand at 10 teams?

CT: I think this meeting was, in terms of expansion, a little overblown. There was probably no more or less conversation on membership than in the past. This was a unique meeting because we had four new presidents that had never been on calls before, since we are acting as though we’re a 10-team football league in 2010.

We did have conversations about membership and the usual suspects appeared -- BCS automatic qualifications, schedule, history, rivalries with current members. … We had thorough, diligent discussions about the merits and, similar to past discussions, the pitfalls if you will of 11 members, of 12 members. Why would we go to 12? Why would we go to 11? What are the values? You can look at our history. Until the summer of 2010, we added one member in 11 years, TCU. We are very conservative by nature, and it goes back to the roots of why the league was formed in 1999. They want to play members they know and have a history against. … This always comes back to BCS automatic qualification and television. We have five more years with Comcast and CBS and were having conversations with them about various aspects.

So how seriously were the options discussed?

CT: It was a conversation that was thorough and deliberate. We really started at the 30,000-foot level of a 12-member league with a championship game and divisional play. There wasn’t a lot of specific drill down on this institution or that institution.

Could the league expand in the future? What would have to change for that to happen?

CT: I would think probably one of two things would have to happen before we get back to it. The decision has been made -- we’re not even at 10 members until 2012, but I would say unless current institutions resign their membership or there’s a major national change in the landscape of several conferences. There was talk as early as February of 2010 of the superconferences and the Mountain West and C-USA merging and all sorts of speculative things. Jump forward to January 2011, four institutions changed into those six automatic qualifying conferences. So there wasn’t the major upheaval that was discussed at one point. I don’t know whether it’s settled down. I read where the Big Ten is done, the Big 12 is done, the Pac-10 is done. What does done mean? Who knows. Unless we see major shifts, we’re probably not going to spend a whole lot of time on the topic of membership and expansion in future meetings.

How much did the league learn in terms of potential financial windfall of a potential league title game, and how much of a bearing did that have in the decision?

CT: It was discussed. Let’s say you can make $5 million in additional rights fees for a championship game. You’ve got to pay half a million or more to rent a facility, then you can argue about where the game is going to be played. Then you give something extra for the two participants. Let’s say each institution makes $100,000. That’s better than not making $100,00 but does that game get you into a Kansas State-Texas situation or a position where you’ve got a 12-0 from the East vs. 11-1 from West and the West wins. You just knocked yourself out of a BCS berth. The proof is there. We have had three consecutive bowl participants, all undefeated and it’s worked pretty well.

You mentioned C-USA earlier. One of the ideas that had been mentioned was potentially having your champion and its champion play in a championship game to get a BCS bid. Is that still on the table?

CT: Following the meetings Monday and Tuesday, it’s not active. (C-USA commissioner) Britton (Banowsky) is probably one of my closest friends in the commissioner ranks, so we talk all the time. Again, the BCS has not said if you have such a game that champion will have an automatic BCS bowl berth. That’s fundamental. And I don’t suspect they’re going to, and I don’t know that’s something that would be on our radar to present.

You can be half full or half empty all day with Mountain West. We have three consecutive BCS bowl games with TCU and Utah, but those three participants after next year will leave. But coming in are three BCS participants -- Boise State twice and Hawaii. … We’re feeling a sense of recalibration. We weren’t at any particular place five or six years into the Mountain West, but we’re optimistic with this current 10-team makeup we can have similar successes.

One of the biggest complaints about non-AQ teams like Boise State and TCU is the "easy" schedule they play. Critics scream they should man up and play the "big boys" in nonconference, to "prove" their worth before they get into "cupcake" league play. Or as E. Gordon Gee likes to call it, "Little Sisters of the Poor" play.

But what happens when Texas Tech backs out of a game against TCU for the second year in a row? Does anybody scream that Texas Tech is trying to avoid playing the Horned Frogs? That certainly appears to be the case. Texas Tech says it had to drop TCU because it needed to make room for another conference game in the new nine-game Big 12 league schedule. Yet the Red Raiders kept nonconference games against New Mexico (two wins in the last two years) and Nevada (in for a rebuilding year without Colin Kaepernick, Vai Taua and Dontay Moch), and are reportedly scheduled to open the season against FCS Texas State.

Bailing on TCU this late in the game puts the Horned Frogs in a terrible situation. As athletic director Chris Del Conte pointed out in an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas Tech has known for months that it would be playing a nine-game league schedule. So why wait so long to back out? Texas Tech may not care about it strength of schedule because it is in an automatic qualifying league, but TCU cares plenty.

There is precious little time left to find a marquee opponent now for TCU, which is in definite need of doing so in its final year in the Mountain West. Nonconference schedules are usually worked out years in advance, so the number of teams with open dates right now is slim. TCU is getting the raw end of this one, yet you can bet when 2011 kicks off, there will be critics who complain the nonconference schedule is too weak unless a top opponent is found to fill the Texas Tech slot. TCU has Baylor and SMU scheduled in nonconference play.

There was another bit of scheduling news tucked into this report on Texas Tech. The Mountain West is considering moving the Boise State-TCU game to Boise for 2011 -- the lone season the two are scheduled to play as members of the same conference. Last summer, commissioner Craig Thompson said the game would most likely be at TCU because Boise State would just take Utah's spot on the schedule.

But much has changed since last summer. TCU is moving to the Big East, and a home game in Boise would certainly give the Broncos a home-field advantage and therefore benefit the MWC in its quest to become an automatic qualifying conference. The move seems downright petty, though you can see why the Mountain West would favor a school that is going to be a member beyond 2011.

Predictably, Del Conte is not pleased, telling ESPNDallas.com: "It's our home game and they told us it would be our home game and to change the rules midstream is not appropriate. I'm hoping they do what we originally said, which was that it would be a home game for TCU. To me to change it is not right, but that's been the discussion."

Changing the site requires a vote of the conference presidents. TCU does not get a vote because it is leaving the league. Thompson tells the Idaho Statesman that a decision will be made in no more than two to three weeks from now.

Oh by the way, Boise State has not lost a conference game at home since 1998.

Brian Bennett talks with MWC commissioner Craig Thompson.

Happy Friday to all, and thanks for writing into the mailbag. Keep those questions and comments coming.

Matt Coss in Portland writes: Now that BYU has two bowl agreements in place, we know their fate if they have a winning record in 2012 and 2013. Were these bowl agreements necessary for the school to have a post-season in those years? Doesn't that take away some of the excitement from the regular season?

Andrea Adelson: The bowl agreements make it much easier to have a postseason, that is for sure. Without them, then BYU would have to rely on getting selected as an at-large team, and that could have put them in less desirable locations against in less desirable matchups. Navy and Army have tie-ins to games, and Notre Dame has a deal to be taken in the Champs Sports Bowl depending on other Big East selections. So yes, the agreements were all but necessary. As for taking away some of the excitement, BYU still has a chance to make it into a BCS game should it qualify. And as a member of a conference, there are only so many bowl tie-ins. Can't imagine it was terribly exciting going to Las Vegas five years in a row. Then again, it is Vegas.

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Daniel Hoy in Toledo writes: How will the MAC coaching changes affect the Ohio Bobcats and Northern Illinois in the bowl games?

Adelson: No impact on Ohio. As for Northern Illinois, it could go one of two ways: The team could be flat after a crazy 72-hour period in which it lost the MAC title game and then head coach Jerry Kill. Or the players could be fired up to prove that they will be just fine without him.

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Austin in Orlando writes: Do you think that the Big East is going to join UCF as an all sports member by the end of this season? It only seems practical now that the Knights are No. 25 in football, and next in line to be ranked in basketball. If the Big East does not want UCF, is UCF ready for the ACC or SEC?

Adelson: I don't think it's going to happen by the end of the season. A big wild card is Villanova, which recently announced it is not going to make a decision on whether to move up to FBS until April. It's unclear whether the Big East will wait that long to make another move. But UCF is right up there to be selected. That is UCF's only hope at this point. No shot at the ACC or SEC.

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Loren Cooper in Hampton, Neb., writes: What kinds of things will need to happen in the various bowls for Boise to jump a couple spots in the final polls?

Adelson: Well, teams ahead of the Broncos are going to have to lose and Boise State is going to have to win. Losses by No. 7 Oklahoma in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, No. 8 Arkansas in the Allstate Sugar Bowl and No. 9 Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl would be the best bets. Now here is something interesting to ponder -- if No. 6 Ohio State loses to Arkansas and Boise State wins -- who finishes ranked higher? E. Gordon Gee wants to know!

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Kevin in Provo, Utah, asks: What do you think the chances are that Bronco Mendenhall would put Brandon Doman in as a new OC (assuming that he will get rid of Robert Anae). I've read articles where Bronco praises Doman as the best quarterbacks coach in the country, and I know Doman won't want to stick around forever if he doesn't get a promotion or raise. What would be the best move in your opinion?

Adelson: I know a lot of fans are unhappy with Anae this season, but here is something I wonder -- how much of the two QB system at the beginning of the year should be blamed on Anae, and how much should be blamed on Mendenhall? This is an offense that has been just fine until this season, and I think a lot of the troubles started with that QB rotation. Doman is a great coach, no question, but I think Anae deserves another year to call the plays. More importantly, I think Doman needs another year working with Jake Heaps full time to get him prepared to be a true leader of this offense.

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Spencer in Provo, Utah, writes: What do you think about Craig Thompson's two-faced decision to add Hawaii as a football only school after he shot BYU down when the Cougars wanted to leave all their sports in the MWC and go independent in football? It seems terribly hypocritical and even though the presidents of the universities make the decision on who to add to the league he has a voice in what is happening.

Adelson: There are a lot of politics behind the scenes involving BYU and its relationship with the Mountain West. There could have been more resistance from the university presents to accept that plan than we know publicly. So I am not ready to call Thompson a hypocrite. I also think BYU preferred to take its other sports to the WAC.

1. When the Mountain West Conference raided the Western Athletic Conference for Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada earlier this year, commissioner Craig Thompson all but shrugged off the consequences of his league’s actions on the WAC. What goes around comes around. Thompson has lost Utah, BYU and TCU, his three most stable programs. The MWC, instead of moving forward, has suffered a net loss. Maybe Thompson understood something was in the air.

2. I don’t know what’s more remarkable: that the Big Ten coaches named Denard Robinson the conference Offensive Player of the Year without naming him first- or second-team all-conference (Dan Persa of Northwestern and Scott Tolzien of Wisconsin, respectively), or that I sympathize with them for wanting to honor as many players as possible. However, if Robinson is the league’s best offensive player, then he should be the All-Big Ten quarterback. This decision is too clever by half.

3. Alabama fired an unnamed staffer who played “Take the Money and Run” and “Son of a Preacher Man” over the Bryant-Denny Stadium sound system before the Iron Bowl on Friday, according to The Tuscaloosa News. The music served as sarcastic commentary on the woes of Auburn quarterback Cam Newton. Alabama responded as Auburn surely hopes that any opposing school would. Which is not to say that the song choices were not inspired. Funny, yes. Time and place, no.

Less than six months ago, the Mountain West rejoiced. It had just added Boise State as its 10th member, making what appeared to be a formidable lineup of schools with TCU, Utah and BYU while bolstering its case to become a seventh automatic qualifying conference.

Today, Boise State is the only one of the four left standing in the Mountain West. TCU became the latest to bolt the conference, accepting an invitation to join the Big East and the automatic qualifying spot that comes with it. The move comes on the heels of Utah leaving for the Pac-10, and BYU deciding to go independent in football.

Now what is left is a slightly stronger version of the WAC. Indeed, the WAC-raiding Mountain West has been raided itself.

Boise State once again will be the favorite to dominate a league that is not as strong as it was last June. WAC brethren Fresno State, Nevada and potentially Hawaii are joining up for 2012. San Diego State is on the rise, and Air Force is solid. But beyond that, UNLV, New Mexico, Colorado State and Wyoming might as well be Idaho, Utah State, New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech.

As for the coveted bid to become an automatic qualifying conference, the accomplishments of TCU will count for the Mountain West during this evaluation period because the Horned Frogs will still be a member of the conference when the evaluation period is completed in December 2011. TCU joins the Big East in 2012. What Boise State has done will also count because it is joining the league for the 2011 season.

But it will not get the accomplishments of Nevada and Fresno State (joining in 2012), and loses Utah and BYU. If it fails to meet the criteria laid out by the BCS, the league can appeal to a presidential oversight committee for inclusion as an automatic qualifying conference for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

BCS executive director Bill Hancock said in an e-mail Monday that he did not know where the Mountain West stood as of this week in its quest to become an AQ conference, reiterating that, "Before the season began, intuitively we knew that the Mountain West was in a good position." The numbers will be run after selection Sunday in 2011.

The Big East has an automatic selection through the 2013-14 season, but the qualification standards beyond that have not been determined. When they are, TCU would also be included in the Big East evaluation, if there is one.

As for Boise State, the Broncos made the move to the Mountain West to bolster their chances of being in an AQ conference. Coach Chris Petersen tried to put a happy face on the news, saying, "I still think it’s a good conference, a better conference than the conference we’re in right now."

But WAC commissioner Karl Benson said what we are all thinking: "I’m sure the WAC members that have elected to go to the Mountain West thought they were going to get closer to the automatic qualifying conferences. But in effect not a whole lot of upward movement has been made by those three schools."

And that is what it all boils down to -- getting into one of those coveted AQ conferences. TCU and Utah have jumped at that chance. For those people who yell that Boise State would be taken seriously if it was in a "real conference," the reality is the Broncos would jump if given the same opportunity.

All you have to do is look at the plight of the non-AQ to understand the reality. You have to be perfect to have any shot at making a BCS game. Despite undefeated seasons from Hawaii, Utah, TCU and Boise State, none of them have gotten a coveted berth in the BCS National Championship Game. Granted, neither did an undefeated Cincinnati last season, but at least the Big East has an automatic spot. A Big East team with four losses could get in this year (Connecticut). A non-AQ with four losses, meanwhile, is relegated to the likes of the New Mexico Bowl.

TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte emphasized the importance of going to an AQ conference Monday and had this to say about leaving the Mountain West: "The great thing about the Mountain West -- it's a wonderful conference, but it's not the same conference we joined," he said.

The Mountain West will now look to Hawaii to officially join the league after extending an invitation to become the 10th member of the league. But the potential exists for others to be added.

“Our board of directors and directors of athletics, as they have throughout the history of the MWC, and with even more focus recently, will continue to analyze the landscape and chart our course in the context of ongoing changes," Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said. "That includes conversations already underway with potential future members, as well as related discussions with our television and bowl partners."

Hawaii is in talks with the Mountain West about joining the league for football only, dealing another potential blow to the floundering WAC.

School president M.R.C. Greenwood said late Thursday night at a news conference in Honolulu she had already been in discussions with Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson.

"We have a handshake but we have yet to agree on the details," Greenwood said. "The people of the state of Hawaii should be very positive about this and convinced that we have a bright future."

If the move becomes final, the Mountain West will have taken the top four programs in the WAC -- Boise State is joining in 2011, and Nevada and Fresno State are joining in 2012. After Nevada and Fresno State decided to leave the WAC earlier this year, Hawaii started seriously looking at its options, including going independent.

The new additions to the WAC to replace Nevada and Fresno State -- UT-San Antonio and Texas State -- do not fit in the Hawaii geographic footprint and would make travel costs higher. Without its top four schools, the WAC would be left with current members Louisiana Tech, Utah State, San Jose State, New Mexico State and Idaho, teams with a combined 15 wins this season. The two new members are not on the FBS level yet.

Remember, Utah State turned down a chance to join the Mountain West before Fresno State and Nevada decided to join, believing in the strength of the $5 million buyout the WAC agreed to when the league was in talks about adding BYU in all sports but football. Fresno State and Nevada decided to leave anyway, setting off a messy divorce from the WAC. BYU is going independent and joining the West Coast Conference for its other sports.

As for the Mountain West, the league would stand at 11 football-playing members should the Warriors join. But there could be various reasons for this move. The first would be as a pre-emptive measure should TCU leave to join the Big East. The Horned Frogs have been mentioned as a potential member of that league, but there are questions about whether they would join as a football-only playing member. The Big East has said it is looking at expanding.

If TCU decides to stay, then adding Hawaii means strengthening the league. It also could mean adding one more member so the league can get to 12 teams and add a conference title game. Hawaii is one of four non-AQ schools that has made a BCS bowl game. When Utah leaves for the Pac-12, the Mountain West would have those three other schools in its grasp (TCU and Boise State being the others) should TCU decide to stay.

Hawaii would have its other sports play in the Big West. The Warriors have been members of the WAC for 32 years, but have been eyeing the Mountain West for years.

"The important thing is we're going to the dance," said athletic director Jim Donovan, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. "That's always been the most important thing in my life. I'm a former offensive lineman, and no matter what it takes, we try to get the job done. We don't expect a lot of fanfare. We just want to get the job done."

Colleague Pat Forde has an excellent column today on what went down between the Mountain West and WAC. He writes:

"I remember calling Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson for his reaction after WAC champion Boise State shocked Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. He described the Boise victory as "great" and "one for the ages." Said he was openly cheering for the Broncos.

That seems like a very long time ago.

Today, Thompson and WAC commish Karl Benson might as well meet halfway between their offices -- say, Castle Rock -- for an Old West gunfight at 20 paces. During the course of a single predatory summer, the relationship between the leagues has devolved from brotherhood to fratricide."

Plenty more from ESPN.com, including polls asking, "What would be the best move for BYU?" and "Which is the more prestigious college football program, Boise State or BYU?"

I will take a look at what could be next for the WAC tomorrow, so stay tuned.

1. The raid of the Western Athletic Conference by the Mountain West Conference on Wednesday delivers a reminder to the members of the Big East: continue to sleep with one eye open. Fresno State and Nevada took a page right out of the Boston-College-to-the-ACC playbook, pledging fealty to the WAC earlier this year and then leaving it the moment the MWC beckoned. Money beat loyalty by two touchdowns -- again.

2. MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said in a teleconference late Wednesday night that he will not make a pitch to BYU to keep the Cougars from leaving the league to pursue independence in football. “They know who we are,” Thompson said. He added that the league won’t make concessions to BYU to stay in the MWC, as Big 12 members did with Texas. If BYU intends to go national, there’s nothing the MWC can offer that would quench that thirst.

3. Three years in at Nebraska, Bo Pelini continues to spar with local reporters over issues that he should have settled his first week as head coach. Pelini closed practice to media this week because he didn’t like the reporting on the season-ending injury of linebacker Sean Fisher. Pelini changed his mind and re-opened practice. Most coaches don’t like the media. The smart ones make their peace with dealing with us and move on. Maybe Pelini will figure that out. Maybe not.

Taking you through the Mountain West and beyond ...

Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson has been a guiding force for the league.

Laramie shakeup: Three Wyoming players have been suspended for the season opener against Southern Utah. Meanwhile, FS Larry Mitchell and WR David Tooley have left the team for personal reasons, and freshman WR Turmour Battle has been dismissed.

Boise State assistant coaches received 19 percent pay raises, though the new contracts cap their next raises at 10 percent and cut bonuses.

Meanwhile, Boise State president Bob Kustra says everything is riding on the Virginia Tech game.

QB Ryan Colburn could be a pleasant surprise at Fresno State, Matt James of the Fresno Bee writes.

Utah State coach Gary Andersen is now coaching the defensive line again.

Texas A&M transfer Colton Valencia has been admitted to Houston and did conditioning work Wednesday. The NCAA has yet to rule whether the sophomore defensive back is eligible for this season

Matt Schilz appears to be the front-runner for the Bowling Green quarterback job, but has yet to be named the starter.

Some Tulsa players spent the summer boxing to get into shape.

Western Michigan WR Jordan White was held out of practice Wednesday, and the team did it as a precautionary measure.