Boise State could still move its football program to the Big East this fall, but the Broncos have several issues to work though first, Athletic Director Mark Coyle told the Idaho Statesman on Wednesday.
The biggest potential stumbling block: The expense involved in leaving the Mountain West without giving one year’s notice.
The Broncos could also owe the Western Athletic Conference — where most of their 18 non-football sports are headed — an additional fee for accommodating them a year early as well.
“Before we make any move, we need to make sure we cover all our expenses,” Coyle said. “If a transition takes place now, there are expenses we need to cover before we make a move.”
Coyle did not have an exact figure on what it would cost Boise State. Boise State is paying a $2 million entrance fee, spread over five years, to join the Big East and a $1 million entrance fee, spread over three years, to join the WAC.
“It changes by the minute. One second you’re here, the next second you’re over there,” Coyle said. “It’s a complex, shifting landscape.”
Coyle said there is no drop-dead date for the talks between Boise State and the Big East, but “there is a sense of urgency.”
The decision by members of the Mountain West and Conference USA to create a new league — and expand by as many as eight members — is a “new twist in the conversation,” Coyle said. The WAC could be destabilized by that expansion, putting the other sports in a unstable conference situation.
“With the departure of West Virginia, it’s created this talk about somebody jumping to the Big East. We have had those conversations, but it’s not a simple black and white answer,” he said. “Yes, we want to make sure that football has a solid home, but we have to have a solid home for our 18 other sports.
“We’ve got to find the right fit for all our programs. We can’t lose focus of the student-athletes.”
BENSON TO BECOME SUN BELT COMMISH
WAC Commissioner Karl Benson has accepted the same position with the Sun Belt Conference and will be formally introduced Thursday. Benson informed WAC officials that he was taking the Sun Belt post on Wednesday, Idaho Athletic Director Rob Spear told KTIK 1350 AM in Boise.
“We wish him the best of luck,” Spear told the Idaho Statesman in a text message.
Benson, a Boise State graduate who played on the Broncos’ now-defunct baseball team, has been commissioner of the WAC since 1994. He was commissioner of the Mid-American Conference for four years prior to that. Under his leadership, the WAC has seen its membership change many times, including the recent losses of Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii and Nevada.
Benson is replacing the retiring Wright Waters as commissioner of the 12-team Sun Belt, which stretches from Florida to Texas.
Brian Murphy: 377-6444
