The 2010 Mountain West Conference football season was the 12th since eight former members of the Western Athletic Conference banded together to form the MW. This was the last season for two of the conference's charter members. Utah left the MW to join the Pac-10 in 2011. At the same time, the Utes' historic rival, BYU, will become a football independent and join the West Coast Conference in other sports. In the 2011 season, Boise State joined from the WAC, while three other WAC members, Fresno State, Hawaiʻi and Nevada, have accepted invitations to join the MW in 2012. For more details on these developments, see 2010 NCAA conference realignment.