Big East was ‘unwilling’ to meet Boise State’s terms

The Big East Conference tried to work out a deal to keep Boise State on board, but members were "unwilling" to give the Broncos the deal that kept them in the Mountain West.

"We worked hard with Boise," Big East commissioner Mike Aresco said Tuesday. "We explored a lot of different ways to keep them. No question. Ultimately, we were unwilling to do the things they wanted. Our membership was unwilling to make the deal the Mountain West made with them."

Boise State had committed to play football in the Big East, starting in 2013. But the school announced Monday it was reversing course and staying in the Mountain West.

The Mountain West recently re-worked its television contract with CBS Sports Network to allow the conference to sell packages of its games to other networks. The deal will allow teams that appear on national TV more often to make more money. Also, the league agreed to sell Boise State home games in a separate package.

The Mountain West also agreed to allow teams in its conference that play in BCS games and the equivalent when the new postseason system starts in 2014 to keep half the money. The rest of the conference will split the other half. In most leagues, all bowl money is shared equally.

That deal, added to the most recent defections from the Big East that caused even more instability in that league, caused Boise State to change course.

San Diego State, another Mountain West team currently committed to play football in the Big East in 2013, also is reconsidering.

"I don't know the deal with San Diego State," Aresco said. "That could come clear in the next few days. We're in close touch with them."

The Big East was aware over the past month that Boise State was having second thoughts, Aresco said. He hopes that once San Diego State makes a decision, the realignment wheel will finally stop spinning and the Big East can find a TV partner.

■ MOUNTAIN WEST MONEY - UNR and UNLV spent less on their football programs during 2011-12 than any other schools in the Mountain West.

UNR ranked last in spending on both football, at $5 million, and basketball, at about $1.5 million, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.

The $3.7 million UNLV spent on basketball last season was the third most in the league, behind New Mexico's $4.5 million and San Diego State's $4.4 million. UNLV spent slightly less than $7 million on football.

San Diego State spent the most on football in the league, nearly $11.8 million, almost twice as much as UNR spent on basketball and football combined.