<p>Utah State turned down an invitation to join the Mountain West Conference seven days ago. Now, the school and the conference are talking again.</p>
<p>USU is involved in a second round of discussions with the MWC as it explores its options both inside and outside of the Western Athletic Conference, The Salt Lake Tribune has learned.</p>
<p>In addition, a resolution agreed to by WAC presidents and BYU, obtained by The Tribune, sheds more light on what the Cougars wanted and needed to join the league as a non-football member. BYU is attempting to put together a deal that will allow them to go independent in football.</p>
<p>According to a source with knowledge of the situation, Utah State has been talking to the MWC since late last week after the Aggies said no thanks on Aug. 18 and the discussions have continued into this week.</p>
<p>Utah State athletic director Scott Barnes, in an open letter to Aggie fans last week, said USU initially turned down the Mountain West because of an agreement the resolution in which conference members reaffirmed their bond with a $5 million buyout that would be in force for the next five years.</p>
<p>The steep penalty was agreed to in order to bring BYU back into the league. The Cougars left the WAC in 1999 to help form the Mountain West. However, Fresno State and Nevada scuttled the deal, jumping to the Mountain West despite the stiff exit fee and leaving the WAC with just six members. In the wake of that news, Barnes said late last week that USU was reexamining all of its options.</p>
<p>Those alternatives might once again include the Mountain West.</p>
<p>Lo and behold, look who is back at the Mountain West table.</p>
<p>According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Utah State is in a second round of talks to join the league, a week after it declined an invite because of a WAC solidarity pact. The news is not a surprise. Utah State has to weigh its options now that the WAC and BYU’s status are in flux.</p>
<p>After Fresno State and Nevada left the WAC for the Mountain West, Utah State announced it had turned down a bid to join the MWC because it believed the WAC would stay together on the strength of a $5 million buyout clause each school agreed to in order to stop defections. With BYU on the verge of becoming an associate member of the league, Utah State did the honorable thing and stuck with the WAC, believing everybody else would, too.</p>
<p>But now that Fresno State and Nevada are gone, the WAC is looking more precarious by the day. Utah State has to do what is in its best interest, and the Mountain West is a far more stable league than the WAC is at this point. Also interesting to note – the $5 million WAC buyout no longer applies now that two schools have left. So Utah State would not face the same penalty as Fresno State and Nevada for leaving.</p>
<p>“It wouldn’t surprise me to know that Utah State is having conversations with the Mountain West Conference,” WAC commissioner Karl Benson told The Tribune. “That’s probably a phase that applies to all of us now. It’s the operative phase.”</p>
<p>Of course, Utah State can talk all it wants, but everybody is in a holding pattern waiting on BYU. The Cougars are still considering whether to become a football independent and leave the Mountain West. The Mountain West currently has 11 teams, counting BYU. There also is speculation the league could try to go after Houston should it decide to become a 12-team league. If BYU leaves, the Mountain West must decide if it was to stay at 10 or expand to 12.</p>
<p>If BYU goes ahead and decides to become independent with a WAC affiliation, would Utah State decide to stay in the WAC or go to the Mountain West? That is another question to watch.</p>