Bronco69

Holas from freezing Boise! I am sad that we won't get a chance to play eachother on a regular basis. I am bummed out the whole Big East thing fell apart. But, what you are reading is only part of the information. Our local rag got their hands on the "Boise State Membership into the Mountain West Conference Term Sheet." LINK if you want to read it for yourselves. Its only 3 pages long and clears up a whole lot of misinformation that has been floating around out there. BSU does NOT retain revenues generated from selling its TV rights. In fact, the MWC and BSU have separated BSU's media rights from everyone else, but the league retains the funds for equal distribution to all conference members. The bonus paid for appearing on national television is defined as ESPN, ESPN 2, or any other nationial "over the air" broadcast. The requirement to be considered national is to be available in 90,000,000 homes. The bonus applies to ANY MWC team appearing in a game as defined. BSU had 2 ESPN appearances and 1 ABC broadcast this year and, if this deal was present, would be in line for a $1.3mill bonus. The bonuses paid comes out of the conference kitty priro to distribution of equal shares. The biggie, from BSU's perspective, is the retention of 50% of BCS (Access bowl) payout. Under the old system, the confernece would retain the funds, pay a schools itimized expenses, and then give the school about $3-4mill. The conference would then divide the remainder between conference schools. Now, if BSU were to make a BCS game in 2013 the gross pay out would be approx. $21mill. BSU would receive $10.5 mill and be responsible for its own expenses. That is what the Big East says they were unwilling to do. Hope this helps clear some things up.

Me again..... A couple of points need to be cleared up regarding the "restructuring" of the MWC media deal. First an unknow number of priorty picks have been granted to CBS with minimum of 5 required. Unknown at this time is if there is an limitation to the number of pirority picks CBS can make of each member school's home games. Second tier rights are now in controll of the MWC to sell as package games instead of individual games with CBS selling the games they did not want to air or allow NBC to broadcast. Lastly, the MWC is seeking to create a digital network that will consolidate third tier rights into a single brand (assumption here on my part). To decypher all that.... it is entirely possible that if BSU were to go back to CBS that they could prioritize every game (both home and away) thus limiting drastically any availability to them being on the "market" for second tier packaging for sale. Or they could be limited, but because of the packagine deal, a network would have to buy and air 1 BSU vs who ever, and 2 or 3 Colorado State, Utah State, UNLV, or San Jose State games. By having to buy the two or three dogs of games, the value of the BSU game would be greatly reduced. As for third tier rights, they are currently owned by the schools, but it appears with the creation of the digital network they are trying to lump them into a conference pool. The current MWC deal is for $12 mill per year into 10 current schools. IF BSU and SDSU were to come back, the only guaranteed revenu would be that $12 mill into 12 schools. No one knows the value of small, MWC schools on the 2nd or 3rd tier market, so it would be a total gamble on those numbers. Just an FYI

I agree whole heartedly about where BSU really ranks. Anyone that does not wear blue-colored recognizes BSU is in no better a position long term than everyone looking in at the Big 5. Eventually, it will be the Big 4 of 16 teams and everyone else.

Hey Bulls Fans thought I'd stop by now the season was over and help clear up a few things and probably muddy the waters some as well. It was a tough year for you all as you had to suffer Skipper one more season, but I think Taggart is a gem. Give him a little time to recruit and build things because his schemes are sound and just needing talent to make USF into something very special. As for BSU (of which I am just an alumni with very limited connections) but BSU has been pretty straight forward in all the conference realignment mess to date. They just want what is the best place, both short term and long term, for their athletics. The football only invite was tenuous at best and with the addition of ECU and Tulane it lowered the chances that an all sport western division was going to happen. Then add in the defections to other conferences and the exodus of the C7, I believe that the dollars we're talking about for the new television contract just evaporated. The new Big East doesn't have any "star power" left to generate big bucks. BSU can generate ok, but let's be honest, BSU is still more of a curiosity than a national power. Especially in terms of media revenue. That being said, BSU has to do what is best for BSU. The MWC just announced a reworking of its media contract and it would be open to full renegotiation if additions of BSU and/or BYU were to return. So let me use an analogy then to explain it. If you have two potential dates to the prom, and you're not "in love" with either, you weigh your options. Who's sexier? Who's going to take you to the most expensive restaurant? Who's got the nicest car? For BSU to hint at wanting "everything" then that’s not a factor of BSU being greedy, just assessing what each "date" is willing to give you. You never open a negotiation with your bottom line, you can leave too much on the table if you do that. With college football as it is right now, the Big 5 and everyone else, BSU is just making sure it gets the best possible deal out of a crappy hand. Wouldn’t you all do the same if you could? As for BSU and Petersen, Coach Pete has turned down or not interviewed formally with UCLA, Stanford, Arky, Wisconsin, UNC, Ole Miss, Cal, Arizona, Washington, Texas Tech, and USC. The only school that appears to be an open threat to “steal†him is Oregon….. He has deep ties there. While BSU may have only turned D1 in 1996, we have won consistently at all levels. 388-147-2 including national titles at every level of competition (except D1… yet). Winning is not new, however, I’ll be the first one to tell you that achieving what we have since turning D1 is mind numbing to any older Bronco fan. I got to pinch myself when I hear us compared to UW, Alabama, USC, or UF on any level. It has been a helluva ride. Good luck, Bulls, may we soon play each other on the field…. Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.

Fun game to watch from my point of view. The pistol is just funky to defend. Very few teams do it very well, including BSU. If the Bulls QB had better accuracy that game would have been a blow out. If Reno could have held on to the ball it would have been a blow out. But that is why 18-22 yo kids play the game. You never know what is going to happen. Gratz Bull and Wolf(Space)Pack for putting on a helluva game. Sorry to see one of you have to lose it.

Understood and I have tried to stay as far away from the Reno threads as possible, just because its never good form to air dirty laundry in someone else's house. But, I do get the UCF references and the others quite well. When I first dropped by and said hello, I mentioned that I grew up just up the Suncoast Parkway (whcich didn't exist in my day) in Spring Hill. I have a lot of friends that attended USF and more than a few that work at the University today. Officially, no BSU does not look at Reno in that light in any fashion. We have our own instate evil upon which to focus almost all of our hatred. Which we do, happily, and regularly. An example, University of Idaho grads count 0-1, 0-2, 0-3....... (you get the idea) Reno is just near enough to be a great roadie for us and consistently good enough to challenge us (in football as they routinely own us on the BB court). Its usually a good trip with nothing but positives.

I love going to Reno and their fans coming up here. Other than the last trip down there, it has always been a great experience. A little buffet, a little consumption of alcholic beverages, and some darn good football. For those of you that are not aware, Reno and BSU have a bit of history, not bad blooded history, but we've been playing each other a while. Going back to the 1AA days, there have been some epic games with heart stopping finishes. Our last trip there was years of frustration bubbling over and some of their fans got a bit carried away. It happens. Its an anomily if it happens once and trend if it happens again. I'll let ya'll know after our trip there this December. I suspect that it wil be back to being a great atmosphere for a ball game. But, I can't resist a little poke here and there. Its the same with them, well most of them, as well. Those of you travelling to Reno should have a great time. The stadium isn't anything spectacular, but most of us out west not in the PAC 12 don't have much to write home about. It will be fun for you guys to see some real mountains and probably lose a little pocket weight at the tables.

BSU does

First, BOISE is the only marquee football team in the Big East. Second, having the conference in four different time zones is very attractive to TV. So, to drop Boise and time zones, would very much hurt the negotiating position of the Big East in the next TV contract. I would use the term "marquee" very loosely with Boise State. They've done very well, and have won several big games. I still question their ability to get up every week for conference games. USF has been able to get up for big games, but has yet to prove it can withstand the grind of a full season. I think Louisville and USF both can become marquee teams in the Big East without the western teams. As much as the tv contracts are fueling realignment, I don't see just Boise and SDSU bringing much tv revenue from the west coast. Personally, I see them as novelty acts for fans in the east. Plus, I think the distance from the rest of the conference makes them outsiders and not really part of the conference. Look at WVU in the Big XII. Or how the ACC said they wanted Pitt and Cuse because it closed the gap between Marlyand and Boston College. Like I said, I would like to see the conference focus not on expansion, but focus on the current locations and work on strengthening those schools together. I would agree that to a point BSU is still in the "novelty" stage of football strength. There will be no respect on a significant level until BSU does have similar success against superior competition on a week by week basis. The unfortunate thing is the bashing the Big East takes on a consistent basis that no matter what a team does here, it will have the same "stigma" that has been dogging us for a decade. I am not saying that this is an accurate perception of the BE programs, but it is the impression that most average college football fans have. The reason why losing Syracuse, Pitt, and WV hurts the perception so much is because these are names that people recognize. It has NOTHING to do with their performances over the past 10 years or more, but "image" is everything. As for possible future expansion, BYU should be the target and almost no matter what it takes to get them into the fold should be done. The Big 12 is pretty clear they have no interest in meeting BYU's demands (Sunday play is HUGE) incuding television rights. The PAC-12 has BYU so far off the radar culturally that there is not a chance they'd give them a serious look. AFA's coach had some really interesting comments at the MWC media days this week, expressing his reluctance to move to the BE or any other conference. He clearly has some juice in the discussions. That being said, Fresno would be a good addition because it would give the BE a second Cali school. If these invites were for all sports, academics, and the normal things University Presidents spout off as important, CSU would be a no brainer. But, being just football, only Fresno has the chache to bring to the table. Everyone else out west that would consider moving is in the bottow 20% of college football.

Hi again all. My $.02 here is that there is no more so an advantage to a norhern school hosting a game than a souther school. The heat and humidity even in December is so vastly different that it will have an effect. That being said, I hope we go with a non-traditional conference alignment that allows BSU to come to USF or (ack) UCF everyother year, the same with Texas. While I know that Florida is rich in talent (recruiting wise) Texas is staggering not just in talent but how these kids are prepared to play right away. Add to that, for you guys, exposure in the California market can't be a bad thing either. As a BSU fan, I'd wholly support the Championship game on campus with certain criteria in place. First, BSU has a small stadium, but its growing as fast as we can gather the money for it. We just added some bleacheer seating in the endzones to get us to a little over 38k. A new football training/meeting/academic center is being built and should be ready by the start of next season. After that is completed, further expansion of seats around the new building will commence. BSU's long term goal is to get to about 50k. Because of the small size and success of our team over the past number years, we have no trouble filling seats (unless the weather is horrid). Currently, visiting teams get 2k seats as their "visitors allotment." That obviously is not going to be an acceptable number for fan for a championship game. I would think that a certain percentage of tickets based on capacity would have to be made available to the other school to be viable. By using a percentage, it would be as fair as anything I've seen discussed.

Sheriff..... Sonnys and they have a handful of locations in town there, and I have no idea which one she's running. Bronco Country is the main message board that sees the most traffic but be warned, it can be a wee bit delusional at times. LINK You have to register but its not a big deal. The mods put the registration system in place to cut back on the massive inflow of posters a few years back. BSU fans are territorial over there, but if you come with good intentions, even some good smack talk, it will be welcomed and responded to appropriately. Yes, Spring Hill was indeed an odd place, even in the "way back" times. I don't believe it has incorporated itself into a town/city and remains as one of the largest "subdivisions" ever created. I noticed that more than a few of you have noticed my recognition of UCF and what my perception of them is, to be honest, it was a little pandering on my part. I have no clue about them other than O'Leary (is he still even the coach?). When I lived down there, they weren't ever mentioned in anything. Rest assured, that we will beat them, just for you like a red-headed step child if you can do the same thing to Reno this fall. Reno use to be a great alternative to Vegas, but it has suffered terribly during this economy and unfortunately it shows around town. Their fans are the most fickle (and few) that you will run across. By half-time if you have a 10+ point lead, the place will empty out and they will have headed to the nearest watering hole to remember the ONE time they beat BSU in the last 10 years! Kickers! That's all I gotta say about that! Seriously though, UNR once delcared, after they had moved from 1AA Big Sky into the 1A Big West, that there were far too superior to play "that team in Boise." We were still 1AA, but that attitude by their Coach Alt has provided more than enough inspiration through the years. That being said, I love to "hate" on the UNR (they hate being referred to as UNR by the way) but they have at least provided some interest in the past few years in being competitive. Unlike so many of our WAC and MWC brethren, UNR has a pulse.

Unlike our brother to the south (Utah), we compensate for certain visual "deficiencies" with copious amounts of alcahol. It helps with the moose issue all the way around.

Ok, one at a time.... For the record we left the MWC not the WAC First there are no smurfs, but ducks have been known to crash and burn on our beautiful blue field! We actually are the 7th largest state in terms of land mass and have some of the greatest out door activities minutes from Boise metro area (650k in the metro area). A river running thru town and the campus has floating, fly fishing, and regular fishing, ski hill 40 mins away, and some of the best micro beer to be had. Assault weapons...... no most cities and towns have relic laws from the 1800s that forbid gun possession within the town limits (I kid you not). But hunting and guns are a big part of who we are and what we do for fun. Moose and women can go together....... yes and they are an endangered species. UCF will be like any other team that doesn't come prepared to play BSU. I understand there are certain "mental deficiencies" that exist with those that live in and around Mickey Mouse land that tend to support fairy tales of all sorts..... My sister lives in Pensacola and runs a BBQ joint there. She is a very typical "southern" gal and all that it implies. But, she is single and if you must I can always make an introduction. In all seriousness tho, I do fully understand the reloading/rebuilding concept. We graduated EVERYONE last year and will have our growing pains this year. I suspect it will be early and often. We did get a kid from your neck of the woods who was an early enrollee and has shown promise at QB (Nick Patti, Dr. Phillips HS- Orlando) but it would be shocking if a true freshman won the spot. We've never had a true freshman starter. Kellen Moore was a red-shirt frosh, and the first time we'd had that too. We have a Miami kid, little spitfire of a DB that should be fun to watch this year, he was injured last year during the 4th game and had 4 ints at the time he went down. It should be an interesting year. A lot of people think that Coach Petersen is one of the best coaches in the country, he'll either prove them right or make them question themselves a bit. We open against Michigan State in East Lansing. It should be interesting. As to the level of competition we will be facing, all I have to say to that is to ask you all a question. How would you as fans "get up" for teams you know year in and year out you are going to destroy by 30+ points? I will be exciting to NOT know the outcome of the game before it is played for a change. Frankly, that's why we travel to these big OCC games so well, finally there is something to get excited about. Its a shame that we won't play TCU any more, they have been the only team to play BSU close with any consistency. We're 2-2 against them in recent years.

Now that it is official, I felt I should drop in and say hello from Boise, Idaho. I am probably one of a few people that have deep ties to both schools. I am a BSU graduate that happened to be raised in Spring Hill. Its a long, long, long story, so please don't ask. I have a number of friends that attended USF and some that are still employed in various positions within the administration there. So, by proxy, I have been kept in informed of the progression of the Bulls from nothing in the late 90's to a very respectable program today. Not to say that it is perfect, but it takes time as an institution to instill the "it factor" in its athletic department. Some schools (hehehehe UCF never get "it") while others have had "it" for so long their fans don't even recognize it. It has been a while since I've been back to the USF campus and am looking forward to making a trip at some point in the near future. My last visit was not at all enjoyable, I was at the Moffitt Center with my mother. So, I am indeed looking for a much more festive time during my next visit. I am a bit old school, remember getting $6.00 Bucs tickets and wandering down to near field level after about 3 mins into the games. Remember the bumper sticker.... "Help Tampa Bay, Dump McKay"? I was there during those years. Went and saw the Lightening at the dome in St. Pete play-off game against Philly..... that was a whole lotta fun. Heck, remember the Lightening playing at the fairgrounds their first few years too. Ahhhh, the memories. But, I am excited to see my Broncos now a part of the Big East and whatever direction it goes from here is vastly superior to what we left behind. You will find those of us Bronco fans that travel or host any of you that come up here to be exceptional fans and very welcoming. Out internet base, well some leave a whole lot to be desired. I just wanted to say hi and get to know you all and if you have any questions about BSU, Boise, or this area in general, please feel free to ask.