Big East Expansion: Why Boise State Should Say No to the Big East

This week, it was reported that the Big East plans to send out invitations to six non-AQ schools from around the country—Air Force, Boise State, Central Florida, Houston, Navy and SMU—to come join the decimated conference.

The strategy, which reeks of desperation, comes after the fledgling conference suffered four defections over the last two months.

First, it was Syracuse and Pittsburgh announcing that they were both headed to the ACC, which then triggered every remaining team in the conference to question the future stability and long-term viability of the conference.

So far, TCU and West Virginia, who are both headed to the Big 12, are the only other two teams to jump ship.

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

Obviously, the league can’t survive with just five teams, so the fact that the Big East went searching around the country to add some depth to the league is not surprising in the least, and the fact that they went after the biggest boy left on the non-BCS block—Boise State—shows you that the conference wants to do everything it can to hold onto its BCS bowl bid, even if that means expanding 2,500 miles west to Idaho.

Now the intriguing question for Boise State is, do the Broncos want to take the risk of joining the Big East, a conference that’s based across the country and one that's endured tremendous turmoil over the last two months?

I say it just doesn’t make sense.

Boise State has made it to two BCS bowl games in the last five years without playing in a power conference, and the team is in great position to make it to its third this year.

Sure, the Broncos have always had dreams of making it to the national title game, but honestly, is going to the Big East really going to boost their national credibility all that much?

Is beating the likes of Louisville, Connecticut and Cincinnati really going to impress the voters and the computers enough to put Boise State over an undefeated SEC or Big 12 team?

Short answer: No, it will not.

The Big East needs Boise State, but Boise State certainly doesn’t need the Big East.

I don’t want to say that Boise State is too good for the Big East right now, but if I did say it, I wouldn’t be wrong.

After all of their recent success, the Broncos are now a national brand and one of the most popular and talked about teams in college football on an annual basis.

There’s a reason that Boise State is playing in primetime opening weekend mega-matchups and not Connecticut, Louisville, or any other Big East team that a national audience couldn’t care less about.

With the reputation that the program has built up since Chris Petersen took over, Boise State can stay in the Mountain West, run the table every year, make it to a BCS bowl game and keep counting all of those BCS dollars.

Why take on the headache of having to fly across the country all season long just to face a marginal step up in competition?

It’s not worth it.

If this was the Pac-12 calling, it would be a completely different story, but the Big East?

No, it just doesn’t make much sense.

The Broncos would be wise to say thanks, but no thanks to the Big East, stay put, and then see how the rest of the conference realignment domino effect plays itself out over the next few years.

There’s just no reason to make this kind of move at this time.