Did Boise St. Block the MWC from Expanding?

by pack_fan on Aug 1, 2011 12:51 PM PDT in Conference Expansion

Editors note: additional tweets were added to this story.

This morning Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News had a few interesting tweets regarding the recent MWC expansion talks with Utah St. and San Jose St. to bring the conference to 12 and add a conference championship game. According to Wilner, Boise St. was the key member to block the proposed expansion, citing concerns over having to win the additional conference championship game on their way to a BCS bowl berth. (h/t Chris Murray of RGJ.com)

BSU didn't want double jeopardy to reach BCS (undefeated reg season and then have to win fball title game)less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyJon Wilner
wilnerhotline

And good chance MWC xpands eventualy. Sources said it left 5M on table by not adding 2 in Jan to create fball title game. Deal killed by BSUless than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyJon Wilner
wilnerhotline

Wilner's twitter feed is here if you would like read to through his tweets. Wilner also thinks that the MWC would add San Jose St and Houston before they would add Utah St., possibly because Comcast doesn't view Logan as part of the Salt Lake City market.

To those who asked: I've heard nothing substantive about Utah St to MWC. Why would MWC do it? Comcast doesn't consider Logan the SLC market

Remember: Utah State would have to bring enough $ to MWC trough to justify extra rev split. Not sure Logan (pop: 48k) does that

If MWC expands again in a few years and Big 12 has not blown up, then Houston and San Jose State make more sense than USU

Chris Murray (via the article linked above) speculates that the Big 12 splitting could mean the MWC picking up Kansas and Kansas St.

Tweet Comment 14 comments | Add comment | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

not so sure this was the true reason

Im having a hard time believing that the reason BSU didn’t want to add Utah St. and SJSU to the conference was because of a championship game. Maybe because those 2 teams will absolutely kill any chances of an automatic birth. Maybe? They are terrible.

by timbob on Aug 1, 2011 1:11 PM PDT reply actions

A reason I am skeptical on this is because the addition of Utah State and any other team would not affect the petition the MWC will need to become a BCS league since the addition of the new schools stats would not count in the current cycle.

I guess Boise State is not giving up their hopes in the MWC becoming an AQ league and wants to protected themselves against losing in the title game and missing out on the opportunity and the money that comes with making a BCS game.

While I like adding Houston, because they could realistically help the Mountain West gain an auto-bid, but San Jose State would counter act the Houston addition.

Mountain West Connection The best site for MWC sports!
SB Nation Denver
Follow me on twitter!
Inside The Utes

by Jeremy Mauss on Aug 1, 2011 1:25 PM PDT up reply actions

That could be but lets remember

that a few other schools would have to vote with BSU to prevent expansion from happening. BSU could not have done this all by themselves. Anyway, Brian Murphy has a good response to this in the Idaho Statesman:

http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2011/08/01/bmurphy/report_boise_state_scuttled_mountain_west_expansion_effort

Frankly, I was in favor of expansion by adding USU and UTEP, but I can see that it would be prudent to see if we can land two big fish in the next year or so - or at least see how the BCS AQ angle plays out before adding any others. If we get AQ, who knows who would be lined up to join an AQ conference?

Teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about. They didn't do it for individual glory. They did it because they loved one another.---Vince Lombardi

by bluesyourdaddy on Aug 1, 2011 1:19 PM PDT reply actions

I don't see a lot of programs available whether the MWC is an AQ or not

The only programs that would be out there would be the likes of Iowa State and Kansas State, programs that would be more negative than positive. That is if the Big12 doesn’t eat the MWC instead of the other way around. Still I kind of agree, adding those two should wait for no other reason than we just don’t know what is in front of everyone just yet.

by ev on Aug 1, 2011 2:13 PM PDT up reply actions

Houston

Would help best they are a quality program. pickings are slim in beefing up. Heck, add Tulsa.

Mountain West Connection The best site for MWC sports!
SB Nation Denver
Follow me on twitter!
Inside The Utes

by Jeremy Mauss on Aug 1, 2011 3:26 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

What about adding sjsu as football only?

Along with Hawaii, they could get ten all sports, twelve for football.

Sjsu might like this because they could put the rest of their sports in the big west, saving a ton of travel money.

I get that sjsu is an unpopular addition…what I’m more interested in is, are they slightly more attractive as a football only than they would be for all sports? I think they are.

The Oakland A's: If you have a no-trade clause in your contract, we're in it.

by notsellingjeans on Aug 2, 2011 12:02 AM PDT reply actions

I'd agree with that

Still their football team is so bad.

Mountain West Connection The best site for MWC sports!
SB Nation Denver
Follow me on twitter!
Inside The Utes

by Jeremy Mauss on Aug 2, 2011 9:08 AM PDT up reply actions

agreed. On a hopeful note...

Their football program will the full 85 scholarships for the first time in the program’s history this season. Also, they’ve had a few somewhat high-profile transfers commit to joining them for the 2012 season (after sitting out the upcoming year).

So there is reason to believe that they will improve, although undoubtedly they have a staggeringly long way to go. :)

The Oakland A's: If you have a no-trade clause in your contract, we're in it.

by notsellingjeans on Aug 2, 2011 5:33 PM PDT up reply actions

I was wondering the same thing after reading these comments earlier

whether or not SJSU had some room to get better if they moved to a bigger conference. Given their market and location, they might have a better shot to do so than Utah St., though I’m not totally sure on that. Certainly the bay area is a more desirable area for recruits than Logan, especially since they could tap into the Cali recruiting easier.

by pack_fan on Aug 2, 2011 8:44 PM PDT up reply actions

their market is appealing

thats about it. football only isnt a bad idea. I am still looking for better though.

by pack_fan on Aug 2, 2011 11:16 AM PDT up reply actions

I looked very hard for another "football only" candidate,

because I really like the idea of the MWC becoming a 10 all-sports, 12 football conference.

But I literally could not find another football-only candidate. I mean, you’d need to find a school that could place the rest of its teams in a conference that doesn’t play football. That’s why the SJSU/Big West angle works so well – SJSU might be desirous to lower it’s travel expenses by keeping all other sports in the Big West. That would give them the best of both worlds, by maintaining the status of playing MWC football and having cheap travel in other sports.

The Oakland A's: If you have a no-trade clause in your contract, we're in it.

by notsellingjeans on Aug 2, 2011 5:36 PM PDT up reply actions