The expansion news has been fairly slow over the past few weeks, and it has seemed to be dragging on since the Big East said in early October that they wanted to add teams. Unless you have been living under a rock we all know who the Big East is targeting. The latest news comes from Boise State's newly hire athletic director Bob Kustra who spoke with reporters about Boise State to the Big East and how there are many things to be resolved to bring on full members and football-only members (via Idaho Statesman):
"Every day something changes," he said. "We're still trying to work it out and where we really are is trying to work out the other sports. That's where we are. It's not easy. ... Believe me, I would have loved to have done this a month ago.
"I personally think that this would be a good thing for us to do, yeah, but I can’t say I’m sure it’s going to happen because there’s just these obstacles to getting there and trying to find a conference that wants us and is right for us. Those are the things we haven’t figured out yet."
It sure seems like that Boise State is going to the Big East with those comments and the delay probably has something to do with the Big East not able to land BYU, waiting on Air Force's decision or that Louisville is telling recruits that they will be in the Big 12. There has to be something internal with the Big East to why these invites have not been sent out.
Kustra also said that he would prefer to have his non-football sports be in the same league. If that is the case the WCC would be a better fit for both than the Big West.Kustra also expected for something to happen by the end of the month:
He hopes to finalize the Big East deal in the next couple weeks. He expects San Diego State to join Boise State as a Western partner. He also hasn’t ruled out Air Force, which has indicated it might not make a decision until January, he said.
Air Force has been dragging their feet for a long time since first word came out that they were considering a football-only membership with the Big East and sending the other sports to the Missouri Valley Conference back during the first week of October.
With Air Force reluctant to make a decision until possibly January, that could affect the Big East overall because Navy is not likely to join a league without at least one service Academy, and Army has already said no. Without Navy in the mix then the Big East will have to move down the ladder of quality teams just to keep the league alive.
Follow Mountain West Connection for more news around the clock via twitter, facebook and now google plus.