Boise on the verge of Mountain West invite?

Most of the expansion attention of late has been focused on the Big Ten, with a little Pac-10 and minimal SEC talk sprinkled in for good measure.

However, it’s one of the non-BcS conferences who could lob the first expansion grenade. Maybe.

According to Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News, “there’s at least a decent chance” that Boise State will be extended a formal offer to join the Mountain West when presidents of the member schools meet next month. If not then, then at some point between then and before July 1.

And Wilner explains why the sudden “rush” for the conference:

If the MWC wants Boise State’s performance in the 2008-10 seasons to be included in the formula that determines whether the MWC receives an automatic BCS bid for the next cycle of games -- and it sure as heck does -- then the Broncos must be a member of the MWC in 2011.

And for them to be a member in 2011, they must be invited by July 1, 2010.

Whether or not the MWC would extend an offer remains to be seen -- back in late April, the Idaho Statesman wrote that Boise State’s door to the MWC is closing -- but one thing is nearly certain. Boise State would need to receive some type of assurance that a school like Utah or Brigham Young -- or both -- aren’t caught up and sucked in by Pac-10 expansion as it would make little sense for Boise to bolt from the WAC for a conference that’s losing one or possibly two of its “Big Three” members.

As with all of this expansion talk, though, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.