Pac-10 Expansion Fallout: Boise State Could Be Looking for a New Home

All of the news surrounding the college football world has centered around the Pac-10 who, according to commissioner Larry Scott, is about to send out invitations to Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Colorado to join their conference as early as July 1st.

So far, that has been the biggest headline, and it could very well be the biggest shakeup in college football history.

Prior to the news breaking this past weekend, it seemed that all of the talk about certain conferences expanding would remain just that—talk. That was until the Pac-10 got tired of the talk and decided to take action.

That has led to a fallout that could mean the end of not only the Big 12 conference, but it also could be the beginning of the end of the BCS as we know it today.

Rumors have also flown for months that the Big Ten could be serious about asking Notre Dame to join their conference, a decision that isn't likely to happen anytime soon—if at all.

There's no question that the Big Ten and the SEC would love to add Texas to their conference, especially the SEC who may as well consider themselves the New York Yankees of the college football world.

But, if Texas does end up joining the conference out west, where does that leave the other conferences in college football, and will this be the first of many dominoes to fall?

One domino that may not fall at all—at least not yet—is the expansion of the Mountain West Conference. The conference presidents decided today that they would not make any moves to expand until the dust settles on the current expansion talks in three different conferences.

“Due to the uncertainty in the intercollegiate landscape, the board did not make a decision to expand at the present time," Mountain West Commissioner, Craig Thompson, said during their board meeting.

While that may sound official, Thompson also said, “The Mountain West will continue to monitor developments and prepare for potential scenarios.” Basically saying they're going to wait to see what everyone else does and see what teams are left after it's all said and done.

For Boise State, it wasn't news they wanted to hear as they've been looking for the opportunity to leave the Western Athletic Conference for greener pastures and better competition. They have until July 1st to notify the WAC of their intention to leave or remain for the 2010 season.

Boise State president Bob Kustra, while certainly disappointed, tried to sound optimistic and upbeat.

“The most appropriate action at this juncture is to wait and see how the variables unfold,” Kustra said in a statement to the media. “The opportunity has not been lost.”

Kustra went as far as to say that the interest the Mountain West had in Boise State before has not changed and may be revisited in the coming months.

Unfortunately for Boise State, and Kustra, they may not be able to wait that long. The question becomes, does Boise State leave the WAC, and hope they get picked up by the Mountain West in the next few months?

The Broncos would most certainly pick up a lot more revenue by leaving the WAC which would definitely bring about more money for recruiting as well as for the athletic department as a whole.

There's no question that Boise State would love to have better competition and more television time than they're currently getting. They would also be able to recruit bigger and better players by facing BYU, Utah, TCU, and the like year in and year out.

Boise State leaving the WAC would almost certainly cripple the conference, and leave them without a dominant, big name team. While Fresno State, Hawaii, and Nevada battling for the top of the conference, it's the last thing Fresno State head coach Pat Hill wants to see.

While Hill didn't exactly come out and ask Boise to stay, he did tell the Fresno Bee that he likes having the Broncos as a conference opponent.

"I'm glad to have Boise in our league still. That's nice. I think there's going to be a whole lot of changes anyway. No reason to make change until the big guys start tumbling. Boise's a great member to have. They're a darn good football program," said Hill.

Hill has wanted Fresno State to battle the best that non-conference has to offer, and has been able to point at Boise State as a tough conference game as well. Without that card in his back pocket, there's not much of an argument left for an already weak conference.

For now, the dominoes have yet to fall, but with the Pac-10 possibly just days away from sending out the aforementioned invitations to six schools, the dust is going to be thick for the next several weeks.

After that's all said and done, we may see how the WAC and the Mountain West respond and how their own dominoes begin to fall.

College football hasn't seen a shakeup like this in quite some time, but it may be the shakeup that a lot of fans have been waiting a long time for.

Not only will this be a shakeup of conferences, but it will be a shakeup in the BCS as well. And that is the one thing we've all been waiting for.