Big East Expansion: Move by Boise State Football a Dangerous Step Forward

As ridiculous as it sounds for a team that plays in Boise, Idaho to play in a conference called the Big East, that move is seemingly pretty close to happening. 

The Idaho Statesman's Brian Murphy is reporting that Boise State is going to ask permission to leave the Mountain West Conference and join the Big East. 

I have said in the past that I am not in support of this move for Boise State and I am not about to backtrack now. But as Murphy details, the reasons for the move are obvious.

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Currently, the Mountain West conference-wide payout is roughly between $1,400,000 and $1,900,000 per year, depending upon football bowl and basketball post season performance of conference teams...Under the current Big East media agreements (which will lapse and come due for renegotiation in 2012), the payouts to the football playing schools would be approximately $3,700,000 annually.

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I may not be particularly in support of the move, but I would be an idiot if I said that making roughly twice the revenue wouldn't be a big deal. 

Also, going back to what was said earlier about geography. This is a football-only move for Boise State. For a sport that plays once a week, the travel isn't that big of a deal. This move would make no sense if it included all sports, but that's not the case.

But we can't focus too much on the positives that this will bring Boise without focusing on one glaring negative. 

The Big East as a football conference is just not steady. The loss of West Virginia, Syracuse and Pittsburgh is imminent. So, who's to say that more teams won't depart?

That's where Boise enters. Are they a big-enough name to keep the existing schools in the Big East for football? Are they even a big-enough name to draw in some new names?

If the answer to the first of those questions is no, then the Broncos need to stay put, no questions asked. If more schools are going to leave, then the Big East should be avoided at all costs by anyone. Yes, the money is big and they are a BCS conference, but neither of those would stay intact. 

Now, if Boise is a big-enough name to at least keep the existing schools in, then this is a good move. It's certainly a good move if any other big names join. 

But given the instability of the conference, this is a huge risk. Yes, it's a risk with a potential payoff in both financial and on field terms, but is it worth it?

At this point, I say no. I just don't trust the Big East to stay intact in a way anywhere near to what we know it as now.