Friday, August 24, 2012

Big West Conference Invitation Official: Boise State Accepts

Blue Through and Through has been telling you for weeks now that Boise State would join the Big West Conference and today, the university made it official.

Boise State will rejoin the Big West for men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, women's soccer, softball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's outdoor track and field and women's volleyball.  Boise State has been looking for a home for its non-football sports since the Mountain West announced that they would not allow the school to continue competing in the conference unless its football team was a member also.  The Bronco football team moved up to the Big East earlier this year.

“Boise State’s membership in the Big West Conference complements our Big East Conference football presence and reflects our emerging coast-to-coast profile,” Boise State President Bob Kustra stated.  “We are truly excited by the prospects of competition and collaboration with all these new partners both athletically and academically.  The Big West will be an outstanding home for the majority of our intercollegiate sports and will provide great opportunities for our student-athletes.”

The Boise State wrestling squad will continue to compete in the Pac-12, where it has been one of the dominant teams in the conference over the last decade.


Boise State’s entry fee to join the Big West is $2.5 million which will be paid in five annual payments.  In addition, Boise State will also pay a travel cost per conference visiting team for regular season competitions in Boise at an estimated cost of $750,000 per year, an equity share into the league’s reserve to be determined at a later date and a one-time membership initiation fee estimated at $50,000.
Current schools in the Big West include Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, Hawai’i and Pacific.  Pacific will leave the Big West following the 2012-13 season and join the West Coast Conference.

Like Boise State, San Diego State will join the Big West in 2013 for the majority of its non-football sports.  San Diego State’s football team is joining the Big East with Boise State prior to the 2013 season.

Boise State was a member of the Big West for all sports, including football, from July 1, 1996 to June 30, 2001.  Boise State joined the WAC on July 1, 2001 and was a member of that league for 10 years before joining the Mountain West on July 1, 2011.  

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