This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Hope you get a chance to check out this story in The Salt Lake Tribune, which was gleaned from e-mails and other documents passed between Utah State president Stan Albrecht, WAC commissioner Karl Benson and other presidents of WAC schools in the days leading up to Black Wednesday — the day the elaborate plan to lure BYU into football independence and away from the MWC collapsed in the span of eight hours. It's late, but I have to post this particular e-mail. It went out from USU's Albrecht to Fresno State president John Welty the afternoon of Tuesday, Aug. 17. Obviously, Welty/Fresno State would accept the MWC's invitation the next day. But it illustrates how quickly the tables turned in the bloodbath between conferences. Remember, Boise State is in the WAC now, but agreed in June to join the MWC (beginning in 2011). "John, you will be visiting with [Boise State president] Bob Kustra shortly. I would appreciate it if you would not let him know about this message from me, but the purpose of his call is to invite FSU, Nevada and Utah State to consider joining the MWC. I basically told him that they were more than a day late and a dollar short. He did tell me that BYU's president told them in a conference call this morning that the BYU-WAC deal is a done deal and will be formally announced in the next few days. That has left the MWC scrambling. They are concerned about losing their TV contract entirely, as well as worrying about other teams now looking to move. Bob put a positive face on this and indicated that the could survive as an 8-team league, but they have clearly been caught unprepared for this. I think this puts us in [a] very strong position to take some additional positive steps forward." Stan