Four days after an expected invitation did not come to fruition, Boise State will indeed get their long-sought invite from the Mountain West and move on from the WAC.
According to a tweet from ESPN.com‘s Joe Schad, “Boise State will join the Mountain West Conference today.”
Shortly after Schad broke the news, the Mountain West confirmed that Boise St. would be joining the league as its 10th member. The move will become effective July 1, 2011.
“We are pleased and excited to welcome Boise State University to the Mountain West Conference,” said Commissioner Craig Thompson in a statement. “Since our inception just 11 short years ago, the Mountain West has experienced tremendous success, and the addition of Boise State will further enhance that strength. The MWC continues to strategize regarding potential membership scenarios and bringing Boise State into the Conference is an important part of that evolution.”
“The invitation to join the Mountain West Conference reflects the excellence that Boise State University has demonstrated academically and athletically,” said Boise State President Robert Kustra. “It will be a privilege to compete and partner with such a successful group of member institutions. This move is in the best interests of Boise State’s future, and the university is excited to be part of one of the nation’s most outstanding conferences
Even with the decision this past Monday by MWC presidents to table the expansion discussion due to all conference hell breaking loose, this move comes as a surprise only in terms of the timing.
In announcing that the league would not be expanding at this point in time, commissioner Thompson made certain to stress that the topic of expanding the conference was still very much alive.
It was thought that the Boise issue would be addressed again by the Mountain West at some point between June 15 and June 30; apparently, that timeline was expedited. Why was it expedited?
We’ll likely have to wait until the press conference announcing the move — scheduled for 2 p.m. ET this afternoon — to find out.
Awesome move for both Boise State and the WAC. With the pending implosion of the Big 12, maybe the WAC can become a BCS league. With BYU, BSU, TCU, and Utah, I’d vote for them.
It’s acutally the MWC not the WAC.
I do agree that this is to lure the big twelve fodder.
Kansas
Kansas State
Missouri
Iowa State
Baylor
as well as either Nevada, Fresno State or Houston
will be awhile before Boise State is back in a BCS bowl now
Hummm; you might want to spell check your use of the league designator: I’m pretty sure that the WAC is not adding BYU, TCU or UTAH. I actually with they were, that would be a swell 12 team conferance. Still I think this is going to work out for both the WAC and the MWC in the long run.
Good move for Boise and the MWC.
Looks like time to find my old “Attach the WAC” sweat shirt and do a little modification? “Attack the MWC” in 2011. And your wrong JUPE: BSU will be in the BCS this year while champion of the WAC and next year as champion of the MWC.
New BSU motto? Whip em all – let God (and the BCS) sort em out.
yea..you definately meant the MWC and not the WAC there myopinionisrighterthanyours
but…i do agree. I think this is a strong move to position themselves as a conference in the future to maybe even replace the position of the pending Big XII vacancy. Utah was already better than most of the major conference schools, as have been other schools like TCU as of late. Adding a strong team like Boise State just adds to the credentials of the conference, increases competetition, and will help all the related schools in their recruiting. I think every school in the MWC just got a little better, and for that, I’m excited to see it. I also hope this helps them recruit some of the other Big XII schools in a win win situation. Good for the MWC and good for their teams, like Utah, that have been battling to make a name. It will be fun to see these teams beat up on each other and see who is standing at the end. I’d even argue the winner of the MWC is as legit and good of a team as the winner of the over rated Big 10 conference….unless Nebraska gets in there and ruffles some feathers that is.
Oh, I see. Broncos a little scared of Derek Carr???
Just kidding, congrats and well deserved. I really hope Fresno State follows, the big MWC programs stay put, maybe the Kansas schools etc.
Should be a BCS conference then…much better than ACC or Big 10.
Great addition. Class program with class fans. Just think about changing that blue turf before the duck population is rendered extinct.
Great addition. Class program with class fans. Just think about changing that blue turf before the duck population is rendered extinct.
The MWC, as now currently constructed, is probably better than the ACC and Big East. Add at least 2 of the Big 12 leftovers, and this is a serious legit conference.
Alabama fan here. It’s obvious that the better teams of the Big XII are running to big money without having to face stiffer competition. Meanwhile, MWC is building itself the right way from the ground up, into a powerful force. (’09 Sugar Bowl tells us down here all we need to know; don’t mess with Utah.) With the other “trained killers” in the MWC being joined by Boise St. this conference will become the replacement of the Big XII with every bit as much capability to rock the BCS. Question: with 4 “16 team super-conferences” angling toward some sort of “playoff” (4×16=????, get it?) to decide BCS match-ups, how does MWC fit into this new world? At-large bid? That stinks. There has to be a better way.
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