Getty ImagesWhew, that was close.
Boise State had until 11:59 p.m. on June 30 to notify the Mountain West and its members that it was departing for the Big East for football.
Well, about two hours before that deadline hit, the Broncos finally did just that. Had they waited beyond the deadline, the Broncos would have owed the league an additional $5 million per the bylaws. Instead, the school will likely face a $2.5 million penalty while remaining an all-sports member for the 2012-13 year.
“There is no doubt that conference affiliation is a difficult and complex issue, but I am very pleased where we stand today and excited for the future prospects of all of our Bronco sports,” Boise State president Dr. Bob Kustra said in a statement.
BSU has reportedly been wavering on its commitment to joining the Big East for a while, presumably over the lack of a solid TV deal, loss of AQ status and uncertainty over where to put its non-football sports.
Where the Broncos will place those sports remains a mystery. BSU originally was set to put all Olympic sports in the WAC, but the inevitable demise of that conference led to reports that BSU was looking at the Big West conference for a home.
Officially, that issue has not been resolved; the more important one — or, at least the more relevant to this site — has. Finally.
(Hat tip: Idaho Statesman)
Good for Boise!
Next they can defect to the ACC, and from there they can move to either the BIG12 or PAC12
College football’s version of a biker chick…
Hold your horse there deadeye…
How many conferences has Boise been in over the past ten years??? Just pick a conference and stay put for a few years!!
Travesty for Boise State. This move males no sense no how.
I guess now Boise State has zero leverage when it comes to finding a home for their Olympic sports.
Before, it was “if you don’t let us in on our terms, we’ll just go back to the Mountain West, which is superior to your conference in Olympic sports anyway.”
Now, it’s “if you don’t let us in on our terms, we’ll … ummm … go to the WAC.”
Good luck Boise.
They went from playing crappy football teams in the there old league to playing crappy football teams in there new league lol
I don’t mind them moving around to get into a better conference for better things. I wish Kellen Moore had been able to make a BCS appearance. He was a heck of a QB I hope he does well pro.
Stupid move, especially with demise of AQ. Having fb in one conference and all others in another shows BSU is in two conferences where it doesn’t fit.
Kellen did make it to the BCS in 2010.
I can see the ACC and The Big East coming together.
Boise state lacks the facilities and prestige that the pac-12 and big12 schools have.
@keepthisrealbro – Or any other major (big boy) conference.
The Big East and ACC will not “come together”. The ACC is also a strong academic conference. After picking off the five Big East schools that fit the conferene’s footprint, the ACC has little use for the rest (with the possible exception of Rutgers and UConn).
“How many conferences has Boise been in over the past ten years??? Just pick a conference and stay put for a few years!!”
Big East will be the third. If the MWC they thought they were joining were still intact, they wouldn’t be making this move. Remember, when Boise joined the MWC, TCU, Utah and BYU were still members of the conference.
“They went from playing crappy football teams in the there old league to playing crappy football teams in there new league lol”
But now those crappy teams at least are in the eastern time zone, where Boise can gain more consistant TV exposure. The MWC TV deal is, simply put, terrible.
“Boise state lacks the facilities and prestige that the pac-12 and big12 schools have.”
And neither of these problems is fixed overnight. Just need to keep working on both. Staying in the MWC with only regional exposure and no virtually no TV payout wasn’t going to be the answer.
This is just plain dumb! As a casual Boise fan, I fail to see how this benefits the team long term. Sure, I’ll look forward to seeing games with Cincy, Rutgers, and Pitt, but nobody knows what impact there will be on a college team scheduling 4-6 cross country trips in a season.
@ghengy – I’d imagine it will just signify a slight switch in non-conf scheduling. If you look at this year, or years past, often times Boise looked east for non conf games, either marquee matchups, like va Tech and UGA, or even filler (fullfilling obligations vs the MAC). Now that the conference schedule is more eastern, look for Boise to stay west for non conference games. The long series against BYU is one example, as is the shorter series with Washington. And I’d be shocked if they didn’t play at least one of the old rivals yearly (Fresno, Nevada)
@fcmlefty1
Good posts. The little guys got to keep trying to get the respect they deserve when they have a good team. Like what the Big East is doing as they try to keep their conference formidable as best they can. And MWC still has good teams. East Coast bias just cuts West Coast teams a hard time to get accurate ratings in the polls.
The ACC and Big 12 wouldn’t be raiding the Big East (repeatedly) if the schools in that conference suck like everyone thinks. WVU destroyed Clemson in the last Orange Bowl and set almost a dozen records when they scored 70 points. USF beat Clemson the year before in their bowl game. That’s just two recent examples.
Boise St will now be playing games in much larger TV markets, New York, Tampa, Orlando, etc than they were before. ESPN TV money drives all these conference moves so in the long run, Boise St is better off then they were in the past playing in small TV markets.