Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson must be one happy man right now, because Boise State and San Diego State are both in precarious positions.
As numerous outlets today have reported, the Big East is almost done as a conference. The seven basketball only members have voted to leave the conference for grenner pastures, which means the conference is all but dead.
With projected ESPN TV deals coming in at a lower amount of money than expected, the secession of the seven schools will further de-value a league that's been on life support for the last year.
And it also raises the possibility, at least, that Boise State and San Diego State may not have a conference to move to. At the very least, the Big East is nothing like the league those two hastily left the Mountain West for.
So, if they go back to the MWC, that makes for a strong hoops and football league the Aggies are moving to next season. In basketball, it was always going to be strong. Add San Diego State, and it becomes arguably the best conference out west.
MWC officials are reportedly in a wait and see mode. But there's no doubt that the conference is in a stronger position than it was 24 hours ago.
Tony Jones