Boise State’s Big 12 Future

Multiple platforms are reporting that the Big 12 will invite four teams to join their beleaguered conference this week. The Big 12, which is really the Big 10, but that name was already taken, must add teams or face extinguished thanks to league powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma bolting for the SEC. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF are the four teams that will get the invite.

The Big 12 has flirted with adding Boise State in the past but once again declined to invite the Broncos to their party. Why not Boise State? Could the Bronco have done anything that would've changed the minds of the Big 12 search committee? According to reports, the criteria for consideration were success in football and basketball. Sadly, Boise State has not lived up to its world-beating reputation during the Harsin years. The Broncos won their last Fiesta Bowl in 2014. They're not the power in the Mountain West that they were in the WAC. Basketball is not on the level of any of the Big 12 schools.

For the Big 12 to consider Boise State, the Broncos would've had to dominate in football and basketball. Let's take basketball first because fans hear the same hype about this team being tournament-ready every year. When has the Bronco basketball team won the Mountain West and made the NCAA Tournament?

In football, the Broncos have won 3 Mountain West titles in the last seven years. The team has been in more title games than anyone else in the conference but can't win the conference title. The Big 12 in its reduced form is still more competitive than the Mountain West. Most experts have the league at the bottom or near the bottom when it comes to the strength of competition.

What is the next step for Boise State if the reports are true about the Big 12? It's simple, win your games, dominate your league, and the big boys will come calling. If not, then the athletics department has no one to blame but themselves.