Following up on last week’s report that Boise State is still flirting with the Mountain West Conference, even though it has officially agreed to move its football program to the Big East, some more news has surfaced supporting the ongoing dialog between both sides.
A month after reaffirming that the Boise State football program will indeed be moving to the Big East by 2013, our very good friend Brett McMurphy tells us “the Broncos… remain in discussions with the MWC
image credit: BoiseState.edu
about staying in that league.” Its looking more and more like the MWC has Boise between a rock and a hard place. The deadline to officially notify the Mountain West Conference of Boise’s intent to move its football program is July 1 and the school has yet to officially notify MWC of its intention to leave, according to McMurphy. If Boise fails to notify MWC of its intent to leave for the Big East by this deadline, it will face a harsh financial penalty of nearly $7.5 million compared to $2.5 million if notification occurs prior to the date.
Mountain West by-laws indicate if a school leaves with less than one year’s notice, the school forfeits its final year of league revenue in addition to either $5 million or double its final year of league revenue, whichever figure is bigger. In all likelihood this amount would exceed $7.5 million. McMurphy explains that it could even get worse for the Broncos in another scenario.
Here’s the kicker- Boise State’s non-football programs has yet to find a home for its future because the MWC has stated they will not allow these other sports to remain in the league. Currently, Boise has an agreement with the WAC for its non-football sports, but that conference is on the verge of collapse. The Big West could be another option.
If the WAC does go under and the Big West doesn’t work out, the Broncos will have to heavily consider remaining in the MWC and than face a $5 million exit fee from the Big East. Of course, in the Big East’s eyes this would be nothing compared to the fact the Broncos would be the new face of what is supposed to be a revitalized conference. What a mess.
Raju Kansagra
Stay. The 2500 mile road trips aren’t worth it.
I don’t have a dog in this hunt, but the Big (L)east seems like a waste of time for Boise to me, given the way that league is coming apart at the seams. Sometimes, the best move is the one you don’t make.
More than likely, they will stick with the Big East in 2013. I don’t see any other option if they want to continue to enhance their image as a football program. I expect them to notify the MWC before the deadline as well, but we’ll talk to McMurphy and let our visitors know as soon as we get any word.