Sources: 'It's a done deal' BYU football going independent; other sports to WAC

According to ESPN's Andy Katz, the Mountain West reached out to WAC schools Fresno State and Nevada on Tuesday to extend conditional invitations to join the conference. Fresno State and Nevada, however, declined the opportunity, Katz reported, to join the suddenly unstable MWC.

"While BYU considers leaving the MWC, WAC members Fresno State and Nevada were approached by a MWC representative Tuesday about an invitation to the league, according to a source," Katz reported. "However, if a WAC school decides to go to the MWC, it will come at the expense of a costly buyout.

"Once Boise State left, the remaining WAC members — Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada and Utah State — signed a $5 million buyout agreement that would be assessed to any member that left the conference within the next five years. The schools took that move to keep other members from following the Broncos to the MWC."

Boise State, according to reports in Idaho, has a no-penalty clause that would allow it to back out of joining the Mountain West. This would leave the WAC with nine football schools while bumping the league up to 10 schools for other sports.

Furthermore, if the WAC decided it wanted to expand to 12 teams, a USU source said, there are a few MWC teams that would be happy to join BYU in a move back to the WAC, with the Mountain West a suddenly unstable conference.

If more than BYU and Boise State were to make a move to the WAC, the Mountain West might be crippled in many ways and be forced to seek schools from Conference USA to fill the unexpected empty spots around the conference table.

BYU possible 2011 schedule

On the schedule: Texas, Oregon State and Utah State

Rumored: Notre Dame, Army, Navy and Utah

Contributing: Jeff Call

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