tute79 wrote:
Someone on this board suggested that Boise State has a reduced $ buy-out (or exit fee) from the BE, if the TV contract doesn't deliver a certain revenue.
IF this is true, presumably SDSU has the same deal....
I think the MWC is sitting at 10 for FB, hoping those 2 decide to bail out of BE football.
In fact the MWC might entice them by offerring to refund the MWC exit fee to apply to their BE exit fee (if both were to return to the MWC).
If those 2 were to leave, I think the BE would abort the "western US concept" (which may have been Marinatto's baby) and look to replace them with teams like:
Army, UMass, ECU, etc.
How many of the All-sports members truly value the 7 Catholic schools at this point ?
I think the further Northeast you go, the stronger those ties.... UConn, Temple (Villanova not withstanding), Rutgers, Cincy, Louisville.
The other schools such as UCF, USF, Memphis, Houston, SMU (in my mind) may not view the Catholic non-FB schools as adding a lot to the party.
At some point, when the vast majority of TV $$$$ comes from football, maybe they'll mutually agree to a split.
Splitting seems to be the answer to the problem of the Olympic sports league becoming too large.
Important to factor in everything for the Boise St. and SDSU deals with the Big East. While on a map, it makes little sense, there are still benefits of being in the Big East. We know that even if the Big East TV deal is low compared to the 5 BCS conferences, it will still be more than the MWC. Being that the MWC schools that were attractive to networks are no longer in the MWC, it's not like the MWC is going to pass the Big East in TV revenue. There are the markets to account for. And the Big East, even with partial penetration into those markets, will draw a larger TV paycheck due to simple population density. Goes back to that old comparison where if you have a game getting a 2 share in 2 or more large markets, that will be worth more to a network than a 5 share in the majority MWC markets (or a 20 share in Wyoming

).
There's also the Tv benefit of exposure for Boise St. and SDSU. They will have more national games (we assume) than MWC schools. That alone, the recruiting benefits, might be enough to make the Big East a better option.
There's also the basketball factor. We'll see as schedules develop...but we already know the Big East helped out with the Big West for both schools. If SDSU and Boise St. also get some OOC games on TV for basketball, well that will be a big help as well.
I for one would love to see SDSU and Boise St. back home in the regional conference that seems a great fit, the MWC. But I wouldn't be shocked if both schools were there for a long time...unless a BCS type of conference came calling.