Boise State Football: The Case For and Against the Broncos Joining the Big East

Boise State has been itching to join a BCS conference for the the past five years, and it seems one may be calling. The New Jersey Star-Ledger's Tom Lucci reported that the Big East may be considering Boise State, Navy and Air Force in football only to save the failing conference.  

They are also looking to add Temple, Central Florida and East Carolina as full conference members while pushing Villanova into the FBS.

The final tally would be 12 teams in football and 16 teams in basketball. Though it is just speculation and the invite has not been officially extended to any of the teams, lets take a look at the pros and cons of Boise State joining the Big East. 

Why the Broncos should join the Big East:

It's what they have wanted since winning the Fiesta Bowl in 2006, and a possible solution to what has become a roar of BCS unfairness from the Boise State fans.

Though the Big East is really the black sheep of the BCS conferences, it is a BCS conference with a bowl tie-in to the Orange Bowl. We all remember that an 8-5 UConn went to a BCS bowl while a far superior 12-1 Boise State was relegated to the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl last year.

Though many believe the Big East, over the past couple of years, has fallen behind the Mountain West conference in football, the future of the Mountain West is beginning to look bleak.  

If the Broncos stay put in the Mountain West, and Air Force moves on to the Big East to join Navy, arguably two of the three best Mountain West Conference teams (TCU and Air Force) would have left.  

As we have seen this season, the teams moving into the Mountain West from the WAC are lacking. Hawaii lost to MWC bottom feeder UNLV, and both Fresno State and Nevada were crushed by Boise State, so not much will change in the coming seasons. 

The Big East, on the other hand, even with the loss of Syracuse and Pitt, are still hanging on to West Virginia and South Florida. The addition of Air Force and Navy would definitely improve the conference standing as well.  

There is no doubt that with those two moves alone, the Big East would be stronger than the Mountain West as a whole, and they will likely retain their BCS standing. The addition of Boise State will seal the deal.

Can you say Bronco-Mountaineer division rivalry? Sounds weird now but it could catch on.   

Also, once Boise State is in a BCS conference, it is unlikely they will be left out in the future if super-conferences are formed. The Broncos are just too good a football team to be left out once they are in a BCS conference. And if they join the Big East they will likely be one of the top three teams every year.  

Television access is also on the mind of Boise State as well. Once the Broncos move into conference play, they will fall off the national TV map due to being relegated to Versus, The Mountain, and CBS Sports Network. They wont see network or ESPN coverage until the bowl games. 

The Big East currently still has a deal with ESPN even though it is set to run out in 2013. The Big East and ESPN are currently working to extend the deal, but with major contracts in place with the other conferences, one has to wonder how much space ESPN will give Boise State. 

The answer? More then the Mountain West Conference can.

Falling in line with TV, Boise State may have more access to the "big games" they are dying for. As a fellow BCS conference member you may see Boise State get more then just that one game a year. 

The ACC and SEC would be candidates to play against a neighboring conference foe, but it also gives the Pac-12 access to the Big East without a lot of travel.

The Broncos will have that Big East conference backing when trying to get bigger teams on their schedule. 

Finally, if Boise State does not say yes, the BCS crowd will just point at Boise State and say "See! We invited you and you said no. You are just gaming the system to constantly go undefeated without playing real opponents."

That will be hard to defend against and the Broncos may not live it down. Even TCU was willing to make the move into the Big East. 

Why the Broncos should stay in the Mountain West:

Distance is obviously the biggest factor and could play a part in the Broncos on-field performance with four games topping 5,000 miles. 

If the Big East moves to 12 teams, this could be negated with divisions so that Boise State would only need to travel that far three or four times, and it definitely helps that Air Force is much closer. 

However, distance will, most definitely, play a role—especially when you have to go up against a solid West Virginia or South Florida team after traveling over 4,500 miles.  

On the other hand, every home game Boise State plays will be against a team that most likely traveled a great distance to get there. This will play into the Broncos hands as they remain dominant at home.

The only other team that conceivably travels that much is Hawaii, and though they have been successful over the years, travel does play a part. The cost is extremely high for teams like Hawaii or Boise State traveling all over the country. 

The difference is Hawaii is allowed to play one extra game to offset its travel costs. Also, any in-conference foe that has to travel to Hawaii is also granted an extra game. 

That is why a few years back you saw a 14-0 Boise State team. I doubt this luxury would be afforded the Broncos, and if an ESPN deal is not made, the Broncos stand to lose a lot of money in just travel.

With all of the conference re-alignment talks, its hard to believe the Mountain West will just sit idly. They are on the prowl for a BCS automatic bid as they likely will reach out to very good teams in large markets like Houston and Tulsa. 

When the BCS evaluation period ends we may see a Mountain West Conference with an automatic bid, whether it be outright or via waiver—especially since Boise State is likely to go to yet another BCS bowl this year.

Boise State would kick themselves if they accepted an invite to the Big East just as the Mountain West finally gets AQ status. Nothing is saying Boise State couldn't go back to the Mountain West as I'm sure they would love to have them back if they left.

As the New Jersey Star-Ledger article points out, Boise State would only join in football which would leave the other Bronco sports hanging. It's unlikely they would be allowed to stay in the Mountain West, and probably would be pushed back to a WAC that is going to be much weaker then it currently is. 

This would also mean that Boise State's athletics would span three separate conferences: football in the Big East, wrestling in the Pac-12, and all other sports in the WAC. That may not be the best situation for the Boise State athletic department.

When Boise State joined the Mountain West, a condition of their entrance was that they could not wear the all blue uniforms at home for in-conference matchups. 

Who's to say once Boise State joins the Big East, big wigs from within the conference take it a step further and push to have Boise State go to green turf. 

This would be devastating to the team and the community as the blue turf has become a staple and part of the identity of Boise. If the Broncos were not allowed to keep the blue turf that is an automatic deal breaker.

I would rather see BSU go independent or stay in the Mountain West then see famed the blue turf go away.

So there you have it, valid arguments both for and against a move to the Big East for the Broncos. And quite honestly, after writing this I have no idea what the right choice is for Boise State. 

Either way I will still bleed blue.