This afternoon Utah State Athletic Director Scott Barnes revealed in an "open letter" that on Wednesday the MWC extended the Aggies an invitation to join the Mountain West Conference along with Nevada and Fresno State.
When the possibility of BYU leaving became known, MWC leadership contacted three WAC members inquiring about their interest in joining the MWC. Utah State was the first of these three contacts. At the point in time when Utah State was contacted by the MWC we had a binding agreement with the WAC and were well positioned with nine members, which included BYU. We were simply committed to uphold our agreement with fellow WAC members. We respectfully declined MWC interest and believed all WAC members would remain committed to our agreement.
Here is a quote from Utah State AD Scott Barnes had in the Salt Lake Tribune about the offer from the Mountain West:
"We were simply committed to uphold our agreement with fellow WAC members," USU athletic director Scott Barnes said in a statement released Thursday evening. "We respectfully declined MWC interest and believed that all WAC schools were committed to our agreement.
In other news, I just threw up in my mouth. One can only hope that MWC Commissioner Thompson has since sobered on the idea and pulled the offer off the table.