Boise State?

[steelcityroller]

Yeah it makes no sense for San Diego State to stay now. Major lulz to the Big East.

The rumor now is that San Diego State has told them they want back into the Mountain West but the conference is weighing their options since they currently have 11 teams. They may go with adding a different school as the 12th team or they could possibly look into adding SDSU, SMU and Houston to make 14 teams and make what would seemingly be a better conference than the Big East was in recent years.

[Seppuku]

Boise State gifted SDSU a big one when they returned to the MWC as part of BSU's return one of the conditions was that SDSU had to be offered a spot as well. The general feeling is that SDSU would not be invited back otherwise. The MWC would rather look to BYU or Houston to get back to 12 teams. BSU was helped by SDSU in getting out of the MWC by leveraging the Big West for the olympic sports teams. (BSU and SDSU to the BE was football only) BSU is now returning the favor so SDSU has somewhere to go. The wording of the condition is that SDSU has until Jan 31 to decide. In the mean time, the MWC is considering options of going to a 14 team conference if SDSU returns.

[steelcityroller]

Boise State gifted SDSU a big one when they returned to the MWC as part of BSU's return one of the conditions was that SDSU had to be offered a spot as well. The general feeling is that SDSU would not be invited back otherwise. The MWC would rather look to BYU or Houston to get back to 12 teams. BSU was helped by SDSU in getting out of the MWC by leveraging the Big West for the olympic sports teams. (BSU and SDSU to the BE was football only) BSU is now returning the favor so SDSU has somewhere to go. The wording of the condition is that SDSU has until Jan 31 to decide. In the mean time, the MWC is considering options of going to a 14 team conference if SDSU returns.

Why wouldn't they want to just add BYU and Houston and go to 14?

[Seppuku]

Why wouldn't they want to just add BYU and Houston and go to 14?

If I were the decision maker for the MWC then this is what I would do. It depends on SDSU. The MWC would take BYU regardless of what happens. SDSU just has a guaranteed offer which expires on Jan 31. The question comes down to who do you add if SDSU accepts and who do you invite if they decline. You want to end up with an even number of football programs. Houston and SMU recently declared that they are still going to the BE. I'm sure we shall see how strong that commitment is in the very near future.

There have also been rumblings of adding Gonzaga as an olympic sports school to offset Hawaii and their football only membership. Keep in mind that the MWC is currently rated as the #2 Basketball conference in the country and latest projections have them sending 6 teams to the Dance.

[steelcityroller]

If I were the decision maker for the MWC then this is what I would do. It depends on SDSU. The MWC would take BYU regardless of what happens. SDSU just has a guaranteed offer which expires on Jan 31. The question comes down to who do you add if SDSU accepts and who do you invite if they decline. You want to end up with an even number of football programs. Houston and SMU recently declared that they are still going to the BE. I'm sure we shall see how strong that commitment is in the very near future.

There have also been rumblings of adding Gonzaga as an olympic sports school to offset Hawaii and their football only membership. Keep in mind that the MWC is currently rated as the #2 Basketball conference in the country and latest projections have them sending 6 teams to the Dance.

I think we see San Diego State come in to make it 12 teams and then they stay that way this season and then after next year add 2 more teams possibly Houston and SMU.

We will find out soon because apparently if Houston or SMU opt out by January 11th the exit fee is only $1 million. After that it becomes $5 million and then after June 30th it becomes $10 million. BUT there are stipulations for them to get out with little if any exit fee which are likely to happen (a) if the Big East loses its AQ status (b) if the 2013 conference revenue is 25% less than in 2012 and that one could be possible (c) the conference is unable to maintain members and form a 12-team conference with divisions and a championship game which is also possible.

They are saying that UTSA and UTEP are rumored to be interested in the Mountain West.

BYU is pretty much staying independent until 2017 because of their television network and deal with ESPN. They can make more money as an independent than by joining the Mountain West.

[Seppuku]

BYU is pretty much staying independent until 2017 because of their television network and deal with ESPN. They can make more money as an independent than by joining the Mountain West.

This all went out the window with the new deal that BSU got with the MWC. BSU retained their rights to sell their home games separately from the MWC TV contract. BYU would certainly want this clause to be for them as well. There are pros and cons on both sides for BYU. They may also quickly decide that they are tired of being excluded from all major bowls.

[steelcityroller]

San Diego State is staying in the Mountain West.

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports...er-of-the-mwc/

[Pinstripe power]

big east is dying. boise will be getting out shortly if they havent already

[steelcityroller]

big east is dying. boise will be getting out shortly if they havent already

They already did quite some time ago.... The debate was who the Mountain West was gonna go with to get to 12 teams and it ended up being San Diego State.

[Seppuku]

This is a big deal as they now get to (again) renegotiate part of the TV contract and add a championship game, supposedly to be hosted by the highest ranked division winner. Another rumor to add in is that the conference championship game will be worth about $5 million. Not bad for a "have-not" conference.

[steelcityroller]

Absolutely a better deal for the Mountain West. The Big East is kidding themselves if they still think they are seen as a BCS conference.