Boise State football remains hopeful for future entry into the Big 12

On Sept. 10, the Big 12, an NCAA college athletic conference, announced the admission of new teams into their conference, and Boise State was not on the list.

Despite not making it into the Big 12 through the first wave of expansion, Boise State is still hoping to be entered into the division, leaving the Mountain West Conference (MWC), sometime in the future.

“Hold your head high. We have a lot to be proud of and we’re going to continue to push forward,” said Boise State Athletic Director Jeremiah Dickey in a press release.

After the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas announced their intentions to leave the Big 12 conference for the Southeastern Conference (SEC) last July, the Big 12 has been looking to replace those universities with others. 

Rumors of Boise State joining the conference started to spread after this news, but recently halted after the Big 12 announced the first round of recruitments. 

The list of first-round recruitments left out Boise State and opted for Brigham Young University (BYU), the University of Houston, the University of Central Florida (UCF) and the University of Cincinnati.

In response to this, Dickey released a statement in a press conference to assure Boise State fans that, even though the possibility of the school being entered into the Big 12 is currently up in the air, the school still has a promising future ahead of them.

“Our future is extremely bright,” Dickey said. “We’re in a great conference and we’re going to control and continue to control what we can. We need Bronco Nation, bottom line, and I’m excited about that.”

Talk about Boise State entering the Big 12 has picked up once again as the school has been mentioned multiple times in a possible “second-round expansion”” for the Big 12 conference.

“I wouldn’t suggest this [recruitment] is the last move,” said Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby in a press conference. “I think we’ll look for situations of opportunity when they present themselves. I wouldn’t say we’re out looking to expand, but I wouldn’t foreclose on the possibility either.”

According to CBS Sports, Boise State is likely to be a team to be entered into the Big 12 if the conference were to create a second round of expansion.

“Boise State and Memphis are among the schools being discussed by the Big 12 as it considers a possible second round of expansion,” wrote Dennis Dodd for CBS Sports. “It has long been known that Boise State is on the Big 12’s list of potential future additions.”

Boise State has also shown its ability to compete at a high level against other opponents in the Big 12. On Sept. 18, 2021, Boise State played a competitive game against Oklahoma State University from the Big 12, though it ended in a 21-20 defeat.

Dickey thinks that Boise State’s athletic success across programs makes the university a standout candidate for the Big 12.

“I felt — like many other schools — we deserve to be in the conversation now,” Dickey said. “I think when you put us side-by-side in terms of our athletic success and who we are as an institution, and from an athletic and academic standpoint, I do believe we deserve a seat at the table and I’m going to continue to sing that from the mountain tops.”