According to the following report from Comcast Sports, Utah has been given an official invitation to join the Pac-10 and it's effectively signed, sealed, and delivered:
The Pacific-10 Conference will extend an invitation to the University of Utah to become the league's 12th team, Comcast SportsNet has learned exclusively from sources close to the situation.
A press conference is expected to formalize the announcement on Wednesday.
I'm sure more organizations will confirm this one shortly because even if this one is a bit premature, I don't think there is a single person on the face of the planet who does not believe that Utah will be the 12th member of the Pac-10. They are the only even semi-viable expansion candidate for the Pac-10 and it's only a matter of time.
For the Utes, I say congratulations. Their fans were great in New Orleans last year and from a results perspective no non-BCS conference team has come close to posting the resume they have over the past several years. Boise State has done a fine job in their own right and have two BCS victories of their own to show for their efforts, but their resume does not include the raw number of quality victories over legitimate BCS offers that Utah can claim. With wins the past several years over the likes of Alabama, Pitt, Texas A&M, Cal, Oregon, North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia Tech, Michigan, and Louisville... well, a lot of BCS conference schools don't have a resume that impressive. Furthermore, we've all heard speculation of how well they could do in a legitimate BCS conference, and it will be interesting to see it actually plays out.
For the Pac-10, though, this has to be a bittersweet feeling. Moving to twelve teams and putting a Pac-12 Championship Game in place has to be exciting, but this clearly is not how they wanted things to go. This time 72 hours ago they just knew they had the likes of Texas and Oklahoma in their back pocket, and now they must console themselves with only Colorado and Utah. There is no way that Larry Scott and company don't feel that pain tonight in Walnut Creek.
