The Mountain West Conference is riding as high as it ever has in the college football world right now.

With three teams ranked in the top 15 in the latest BCS standings, the league is tied for second with the SEC for most teams in the BCS top 15 and ahead of other major BCS conferences including the Big 10, Pac-10, ACC and Big East. The league will get the nation's attention tonight when No. 8 Utah and No. 12 TCU at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

So with the MWC's high rankings and all the attention it is receiving this season, it's only a matter of time before the BCS bigwigs accept the MWC with open arms and let them in on the lucrative BCS money pot, right?

Uh, not exactly.

As impressive as the Mountain West has been this year, it doesn't mean they'll be joining the ACC, Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC as a marquee BCS conference any time in the near future.

In fact, according to the BCS rules, the soonest the MWC could perhaps join the Big Cliqueish Six would be four years from now, after the 2011 season.

That's because the BCS is just starting a new four-year cycle to determine which conferences deserve to get the automatic berths for BCS bowl games, which currently guarantee a $17 million payout to each of the six leagues.

Other leagues, such as the MWC and WAC, can get a BCS bowl berth under certain criteria, which has happened three times since 2004 (Utah in 2004, Boise State in 2006 and Hawaii in 2007) and get the big payday.

Utah made it in 2004 by finishing in the top six, but now teams not in the six elite leagues can qualify by finishing in the top 12 overall or in the top 16 if one finishes ahead of one of the champions of a conference with an automatic berth. However, the BCS is only obligated to take one non-BCS school if, say, a MWC school and Boise State both finish in the Top 12.

While MWC commissioner Craig Thompson may be frustrated by his league's current lack of status in college football, he is hopeful that it will change.

"This is a new four-year cycle, so if we could be fortunate enough to end up with three teams in the BCS Top 25 (this year), it would be 25 percent of the four-year period," he said. "It would be a great building block for our league as we go forward."

To force the BCS's hand and perhaps allow the MWC to join the other six conferences, a few things will have to happen.

• Multiple MWC teams need to finish in the BCS top 25 every year.