[Makid]

Utah has a higher win percentage of BCS schools than Boise during the evaluation period.

My understanding is that the criteria to become an AQ conference is based on the following:

Win percentage over current AQ conferences.
Final BCS standings for the conference members added together.
The highest ranking member of the conference in the BCS standings.
How many times a conference is represented in the top 25 standings at the end of the year.
And some computer calculations based on average Strenght of Schedule during the evaluation period.

With Utah and Boise, the MWC would have become an AQ conference. Without Boise and with Utah staying, the general thought is that a waiver would have still been needed. The bottom of the conference schools do bring down the numbers and they are what stops the MWC from becoming an AQ than anything else really.