Will Boise State, Mountain West Rift Bring On More Realignment?
What options to Boise State and Mountain West have if it comes to splitting up?
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REALIGNMENT OPTIONS?!?!?
Boise State and Mountain West are currently in a riff over television money with Craig Thompson saying in a teleconference that this might, just maybe, or definitely will be the last time the Broncos get additional media rights money.
With things influx let’s take a look at what could happen if there is a breakup with a handful of realignment options from both sides.
Boise State and Mountain West make up:
This would be the easiest and least messy situation, but how would it look? The argument will be about if Boise State deserves the extra revenue they are getting.
There can be arguments for both sides as the Broncos winning prowess with top 20 rankings have rarely showed up for them in the conference. The bigger argument could be about the brand of Boise State that is still the tops in the league.
They are still winning and being in contention for New Year’s Six bowl games but they are just not doing so at the same clip. So, what does the league value brand over high-level of winning?
To reconcile what is going on it probably would mean that this deal between the two might need to go on in perpetuity with a similar deal for the Broncos. This could make the most sense because the deal overall that the Mountain West has would take a dip as well and hurt the league overall in the revenue it gets.
Boise State to AAC in football only:
The Broncos brass have no issue with going East for football-only as the school nearly did so a decade ago. The AAC does have an open slot for football with UConn getting the boot and just 11 football members.
The Broncos could make an even 12 and be in the West Division with the closest road games to Houston or SMU. The AAC is already so spread out it is not a big deal for either side. Boise State would have four to five road games across the country.
The big question is their non-revenue sports which would not be welcomed in the Mountain West. They could go back to the WAC but that conference is so much different than what it was when it left. They could consider going to the Big Sky which has 11 basketball schools and that would pair Boise State up with in-state foe Idaho. The Big West is an option as well but that league is considered a bus league, plus it also includes Hawaii for non-football sports.
Super AAC
Part two of joining the AAC could try to convince San Diego State and Air Force to join Boise State to make a more true Western Division to get to 14 teams. That would still cause some issues with the non-revenue sports but the Aztecs had a former deal in the Big West so maybe they land there and Air Force and Boise State go to the WAC?
Boise State has no choice and takes what the Mountain West gives them
Maybe the Mountain West will keep the same deal in place but phase it out or allow some sort of bump for Boise State to stay with the Mountain West as to not create a non-messy exit for its non-revenue sports.
The Mountain West presidents and athletic directors don’t like that Boise State has the deal they currently have and maybe a phase-out could be done or maybe have some benchmark that Boise State needs to achieve to keep their deal.
That still may not sit well with the rest of the league but at least the Broncos side deal would have to be earned.
Go independent?
This provides the same issue of finding a spot for its non-revenue sports but also filling out a 12 game football schedule would be tough. Boise State could play other independents like BYU, New Mexico State, UMass, UConn and Liberty for half of its slate.
The rest would be somewhat tough as the Mountain West teams likely would not really want to play the Broncos. Plus, with leagues like the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 playing nine conference games it would make landing some big time games against those leagues a bit tough.
It would take years to get a schedule that everyone likes, plus there is the money. Would ESPN or any other network pay Boise State more than $5 million for all of its home games?
New Conference?
This seems to be the least likely because there is no more WAC that plays football. The best option would be a league with Boise State, BYU and six other Mountain West teams to form a league? That could make scheduling tough with only seven league games and would money be worth it for the entire league.
Maybe they grab a few Texas-playing schools to get a bigger foot-print but this seems unlikely to create a new league.
What will happen?
It is too early to tell but one thing that seems clear is that Craig Thompson openly saying that Boise State provides the league a boost of revenue gives the Broncos an edge in negotiating a favored deal for them with that admission.
Gut guess right now is that Boise State will have some favored deal but remain in the league.
