Okay, so Utah State and San Jose State were (maybe) considered for Mtn West Conference invitations but ultimately no invitation for either school.  The Mtn West Conference simply said (again) no further expansion at this time.  Perhaps, this is a signal of strengthening leadership within the Mtn West Conference and its member institutions.  Time will tell.

However, I am still of the opinion that a 12 member conference with 2 divisions and a conference championship game would be in the best interests of the fans, coaches, players and communities within the geographic footprint of the Mtn West Conference.  There is a fairly strong West Division already in place with Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, San Diego State and UNLV. There is still room for a non-football member to offset the Hawaii football only membership.  But I will leave that for another discussion.

Here then is a really good challenge for the Mtn West Conference leadership.  Go after Texas Tech and UTEP to join New Mexico, Air Force, Colorado State and Wyoming in the Mtn (East) Division.  This would require a much improved TV package, AQ status from the BCS establishment, and great sales pitch to both those West Texas institutions.  This East Division group of institutions fit in a very nice geographic footprint.  They could still maintain certain long held rivalries since there would only be 8 conference games per year.  Yes, this would be a long-shot for the Mtn West Conference leadership to pull off, but I believe it would create a solid long-term membership structure for the Mtn West Conference