The news from earlier Wednesday, that Temple is close to joining the Big East, hinted strongly at the fact that Boise State would not join its new conference until next season.
A short time later, the school officially confirmed it.
BSU announced Wednesday evening that it will remain as a member of the Mountain West through the 2012-2013 school year, joining the Big East as a football-only member for the 2013 season. The school also confirmed that “the Big East recently approached Boise State about entering the league for the upcoming 2012 football season, one year earlier than the league and Boise State announced this past December.”
Those talks, though, bogged down in part over the amount of money it would take to move a year early and in part over a 2012-2013 landing spot for BSU’s other sports, which, with the exception of its wrestling program, will move to the WAC next year. In the end, being “fiscally responsible” trumped the desire to get started in its new conference ahead of the original timeline.
“While we have had several discussions with the Big East and the WAC in moving our sports into those two leagues a year earlier than previously stated, the University feels there were too many obstacles to overcome to make the move at this time,” Boise State president Dr. Bob Kustra said in a statement. “While there certainly would have been advantages in making the move a year early, it became clear that it would not be fiscally responsible, as all of the expenses associated with early entry into the two conferences would not be covered.”
If BSU had moved its football program to the Big East a year early and its other sports into the WAC a year ahead of schedule, it likely would’ve cost the school somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million.