So what do we in the Mountain West really know at this point? We know that Memphis was taken from the alliance as a full member of the Big East, and that a settlement has been reached for WVU to leave the Big East, so that it can join the Big XII. And there have been rumors that Britton Banowsky and C-USA have reached out to Temple to gauge interest in joining the formerly 12 team league, which is now down to eight total teams.

What isn't known yet is whether the Boise St. Broncos will jump ship from the MW conference in order to become football only members in the Big East for the 2012 season. What is also still in question, is whether or not Louisville will be extended an invitation to the Big XII conference, bringing the total of teams to 11.

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So, money can get you out of a contract. I recall Big East commissioner John Marinatto saying that West Virginia would be held to the 27-month timeframe before they could leave the Big East. Well, the Big East and West Virginia reached a settlement that will net the Big East $20 million, according to the Charleston Daily Mail:

On Thursday, a source close to the negotiations said the additional $9 million would come in the form of contributions from other Big 12 member schools.

In that proposed scenario, WVU's $11 million payment would cover three things: The Big East's $5 million exit fee, Boise State's $5 million buyout fee, and $1 million to match what each Big 12 school is paying.

That would raise the total value of the settlement to $20 million.

There was thought that Boise State would have to be heading to the Big East to allow West Virginia to leave for the Big 12 this year, but that is not the case. However, with this $20 million windfall the Big East can now bring in Boise State and cover all of their fees. Boise State's exit fee technically is higher because in addition to $5 million they would have to pay back all revenue they earned. So, that would add maybe another $2 to $3 million.

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So, much for Boise State president Bob Kustra saying that it is "too late" to join the Big East in 2012. With West Virginia likely on their way to the Big 12 for the 2012 season, the Big East is desperately needing an eighth team, and Boise State could once again be that team.

According to CBS Sports' Brett McMurphy, Boise State has been in contact with the WAC about joining their league for non-football sports a year early:

"The Big East has been pushing them ‘quietly’ to join for 2012," a source said. "The WAC has had to rearrange lots of [its Olympic sports] schedules [in anticipation of the possible move]."

The buyout penalty is probably what is holding this up and Big East commissioner John Marinatto was asked if the league would help with exit penalties, but he Marinatto could not answer that with the ongoing litigation between the Big East and West Virginia. The dollar amount that West Virginia is expected to pay has varied between $11 million and $20 million, and if that amount is accurate I could see the Big East helping out Boise State pay their exit fee to the Mountain West which is somewhere between $5 million and $8 million and maybe waive the $2 million Big East entry fee.

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The Mountain West and Conference USA merger is gaining a lot of steam and now with the Memphis Tigers heading to the Big East in 2013 it looks like the teams left over will form one large league. There would be 15 teams in all sports and 16 for football as the Hawaii Warriors are in the Big West for non-football sports. This looks to be the end of the Big East taking Conference USA members, according to Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky:

"Based upon my conversations with commissioner (John) Marinatto, the Big East has now completed its future membership plan. If this is true, it is very helpful as we can now move forward with our plans in a more stable national environment," he said. "We hope that the other conferences appreciate the value of stability in intercollegiate athletics and higher education."

The league would stretch from East Carolina to Nevada for non-football sports and all the way to Hawaii for football, and I am not fully sold on this idea. Even if the television deal works out with The Mtn. being involved in some capacity as well as NBC Sports and CBS Sports the money may not be that great. Yes, there would be a ton of programming to sell but it would be a lot of games that not too many people care about, so the per team amount may not be there. I don't really like an eight-team league either, but at least with that travel is condensed and there are no trips involving the women's volleyball or soccer team flying cross country for a weekend match.

However, this merger talk has been going on for a long time and the alliance is already in place, so I guess a 16-team football league is better than the alliance that could of had over 20 teams.

The Big East is on the prowl again and is looking to fill out their football conference and the latest name is the Memphis Tigers out of Conference USA. It is being reporting that the Big East and Memphis are in "the final stages of negotiations" to add the Tigers in all sports. This would be for 2013 and not 2012, and with this move it seems that the Big East does not want to wait around for Air Force to make choice.

UPDATE: Memphis is heading to Big East in 2013 and Louisville likely to the Big 12.

However, the Big East may want to speed up the time line by adding Memphis to the league in 2012 instead of 2013. With West Virginia looking like they will be in the Big 12 next year that would leave the Big East with seven football playing members. However, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Pitt will leave to the ACC if/when West Virginia announces they will be in the Big 12 for the 2012 season:

I am now becoming more and more convinced in the conversations I've had in the past two days that Pitt will be in the ACC in 2012 and here is why - the school has had enough with the way the Big East has mangled this all and frankly is waiting on West Virginia.

If - or more accurately - when, West Virginia finally declares they are leaving for the 2012 season officially and the Big 12 schedule is announced with WVU on it, Pitt is going to follow them out the door and dare the Big East to stop them.

That would leave the Big East with six football playing members, and if Pitt leaves what is stopping Syracuse from leaving as well giving the Big East only five football members in 2012, probably nothing and they would likely leave as well according that report.

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The Big East wanted to add the Boise St. Broncos to join in 2012 instead of 2013 to likely to replace the West Virginia Mountaineers who seem to be off to the Big 12. However, Boise State president Bog Kustra came out and said that there is no way that Boise State could make the move to the Big East a year early (via Big East Coast Bias):

"It's too late. I can't imagine how anyone can pull that off. We would never want to pull it off in a fashion that dealt shabbily with our existing partners in the Mountain West. I don't think that could ever work," Kustra said.

Not really sure it is too late to make because the conference schedule for football would be seven games for Boise State and they would only need to schedule one more non-conference game, but the real issue could be with their other sports to the WAC.

Or, it could be that Boise State does not have the money to pay the exit fee to leave the Mountain West and that is what Kustra is meaning by it being too late. The amount of money that Boise State would have to pay would be somewhere between $7 and $9 million, and the amount of the Big East television deal is likely not enough to offset the extra cost for leaving the Mountain West early.

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The Big East is doing the best they can to survive as a strong football conference. With the Big 12 television schedule already released to its television partners which includes the West Virginia Mountaineers the Big East had to react. The latest comes from Jon Wilner who is saying that the Big East wants the Boise St. Broncos to join in 2012 and that the Air Force Falcons could follow the Navy Midshipmen to the Big East.

Source: Boise State under pressure from Big East to join in '12 to offset WVU departure. AF likely to join Navy in BE; question is when.

— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) February 2, 2012

Expansion is back! Not sure if I am really that excited about talking about this, but it indirectly could affect the Mountain West. Looks like the Big 12 is looking to go after the BYU Cougars and Louisville Cardinals. BYU already spurned the Big 12 a few months ago, but now they and Louisville could be the next targets for the Big 12, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education's Brad Wolverton.

BYU's decision to stop negotiations with the Big 12 was over television money due to BYU having their own contract with ESPN and BYUtv. For people who say it was all due to Sunday play for why BYU did not join the Big 12 last time around, well those people are not connecting the dots because if Sunday play was a non-starter the discussion would have never made it to television money.

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