Big East Expansion: How Would Boise State Fare in a BCS Conference?

The Associated Press is reporting the Big East has plans to invite six schools—Air Force, Boise State, Central Florida, Houston, Navy and SMU—to join the now-depleted conference. 

Boise State, Air Force and Navy would be for football only, while Central Florida, Houston and SMU would be for all sports.

This round of invitations comes after the conference experienced multiple defections over the past two months.

Pittsburgh and Syracuse have announced they will be joining the ACC, while West Virginia and TCU, who agreed in principle to join the Big East before backtracking, will join the Big 12.

That leaves the Big East with just five football member schools—Cincinnati, Connecticut,  Louisville, Rutgers and South Florida.

The plan to expand west is an interesting one, but it’s a strategy that may prove to be too little too late.

The most interesting school of the six potential invites is Boise State.

The Broncos have become a nationally recognizable brand over the past five years, and they would give the fledgling Big East some instant credibility.

The only problem is, it may be just too risky to make a move to such an unstable home at this point.

Even with the addition of those six schools, it’s hard to see the Big East keeping its current automatic BCS Bowl bid.

Ever since Boise State started gaining success and becoming an annual BCS buster, fans around the country, especially in the south, have debated about whether the team could survive in a BCS conference.

This would be Boise’s chance to prove its worth, but then again, how much national respect would the Broncos actually gain by beating the likes of Rutgers and Louisville?

Sure, it’s a step up from the Mountain West, but the Big East’s credibility has been dwindling in recent years, and it’s always been considered a distant sixth on the BCS food chain.

Now, without teams like West Virginia and Pittsburgh, the roster of teams is by no means impressive.

If Boise did end up joining the Big East, the Broncos would instantly be the face of the conference, and that’s a big burden to carry, but as long as Chris Petersen remains the coach, this team has the foundation in place to be successful on a yearly basis.

Boise State would definitely be capable of going into the Big East and flourishing, but right now school officials have to weigh the risk-reward factor of joining such an unstable conference that’s centered completely across the country before they make any moves.

Either way, it should be interesting to see what the future holds for one of college football’s most loved and hated underdog teams.