One step forward, one step back for the Mountain West Conference.

Less than a week after adding Boise State to increase its membership to 10 schools, it appears as if the MWC’s roster will be back to nine by the end of this week.

Utah has been invited to become the 12th member of the Pac-10 Conference and indications are the Utes will accept. The Salt Lake Tribune has reported that Utah’s Board of Trustees will hold a public meeting Thursday at 12:30 p.m. on the sixth floor of Rice-Eccles Stadium, and the only topic listed for the meeting is “Discussion of Athletic Conference.” The school has a news conference scheduled for after the meeting.

Utah’s departure will be as big a blow to the MWC as the addition of Boise State was a boon – and it could be bigger.

The MWC will lose BYU’s traditional archrival, one of its best basketball programs and – perhaps most importantly, considering football has been driving conference realignment and the MWC’s designs on automatic-qualifying BCS status – one of its top football programs.

Since 2003, the Utes’ football team has compiled a pair of unbeaten seasons that included BCS bowl victories – most recently in 2008 when Utah defeated Alabama in the Sugar Bowl to finish the season 13-0 and ranked No. 2 in the nation. So when Utah leaves, the MWC will lose one of its most valuable assets in its desperate quest for earning status as a BCS automatic-qualifying conference.

It has been an up-and-down few days for the MWC. Last Friday, when it officially announced it would be adding Boise State, there was speculation that the league might grow to 12 schools – and perhaps 16.

The thinking then was that the Big 12, which already had lost Colorado to the Pac-10 and Nebraska to the Big Ten, was on the verge of losing five more schools to the Pac-10. That would have left the Big 12 on the brink of extinction with just five teams, and there was speculation that the MWC could scoop up some of the league’s remnants – including, perhaps, Kansas and Kansas State.

But the reports of the Big 12’s demise turned out to be premature, as the group of schools targeted by the Pac-10, led by Texas, decided to turn down overtures and keep the Big 12 together. That left the Pac-10 with 11 members – an awkward number for scheduling and one less necessary to hold a championship game – so it turned to Utah.

While the addition of Boise State last Friday appeared to be the first in a series of additions, it now looks like the ultimate contingency plan. Even as he talked about possibly expanding past 10 schools last Friday, MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said he “would not be shocked” if some of his members were approached by other conferences.

Thompson also said Friday that the MWC issues no financial penalty for schools that leave and that he would not ask for a pledge of allegiance. “If you don’t want to be a part of this, why force someone’s hand?” he said.

The MWC’s next move is uncertain. Thompson will hold a conference call tomorrow that should shed some light on the league’s plans. But it seems the MWC is somewhat at the mercy of other leagues’ moves.

There had been some speculation that the Big 12 would add two more schools to replace Colorado and Nebraska and get back to 12 – and Air Force had been one of the teams reported to be on the league’s radar. But Dan Beebe, the Big 12’s commissioner said Tuesday that the league is not looking to expand.

The Denver Post reported Colorado will be Utah’s traveling partner in the Pac-10.

Denver’s Elvis Dumervil has been pointed to as an example of the Broncos’ high-character players for not causing any problems during difficult contract negotiations. Photo by