Boise State has been adamant that they plan on heading to the Big East as a football-only member, however they still have not officially withdrawn from the Mountain West. Now, according to CBS Sports Brett McMurphy Boise State is still in talks to remain in the Mountain West.
This should not come as a shock since the non-football sports still do not have a home despite that WAC interim commissioner Jeff Hurd is currently saying that Boise State has a home with the WAC. That is the problem though, the WAC is not 100 percent stable as a non-football league after the 2012-13 season. We have heard that Boise State has been in talks with the Big West and is offering money to join their league.
Money is the big issue because if Boise State waits until after the July 1 deadline their exit fees sky rocket. Currently, if they give one years notice the exit fee is about $2.5 million. If they give less than one year's notice than they could pay upwards of $24 million. The penalty for giving less than one year's notice is that the school must give up its final year of league revenue plus pay an additional $5 million, or double its final year of league revenue, whichever amount is larger. Boise State stands to lose a minimum of $7.5 million.
That number could go even higher if the Mountain West somehow earns an automatic bid to the BCS (not likely) or if one of their counterparts earns a BCS bid which mean even more revenue lost. Not sure if Boise State cares about losing revenue or having to pay a higher exit fee, but there is a chance that Boise State could lose or pay out a combination of about $24 million if they wait past July 1 to make up their mind.
I guess we will wait next week to see what Boise State decides, and that may not even be their final decision.