Never mind that it's located some 2,700 miles from the league office in Providence, R.I.: Boise State decided last year that it was all set to join the Big East for football next year. The move lacked geographic sense, but it made perfect football sense because it gave the upstart Broncos a place at the BCS trough table. But before Boise State could even load up the luggage rack and hit the road, it looked around and noticed that no one else in the the Big East wanted to stay in the Big East. So today, the school issued a statement that basically said, yeah, maybe not.
The Broncos will remain a Mountain West member in all sports instead of joining the Big East next year as a football-only member and the Big West in all other sports.
Although Boise State never spent a day in the Big East, the Broncos still must pay a $10 million exit fee to the Big East. The Mountain West is expected to help pay that fee, sources said.
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Imagine: Boise State would rather fork over $10 million just to not join the Big East. This after TCU had paid $5 million last year to do the same thing. The Big East is still without a basketball television contract after this year, and its TV deal for football expires after next season. At this rate, the league's best plan to stay afloat is by collecting exit fees.
[ESPN]
