Interview with a Blogger: OBNUG

 As long as Boise State is still in the picture for the Big West, I want to be know what people think about this, whether it's our conference teams or whether it's someone from the outside looking in.  Thus, the "Interview with a Blogger" series is born out of necessity for those of us who want knowledge and analysis.  Having been a commenter on what I considered to be Boise State's best blog: One Bronco Nation Under God (OBNUG for short), I figured emailing Kevan from OBNUG would be the most natural choice in having someone from Bronco Nation explain as to why BSU should be in the Big West.  Below are the answers that Kevan gave to my questions.

 BWConfidential: There's a lot of talk as to why Boise State wouldn't be wanted in the Big West.  Convince me otherwise.

KL: As someone who finds conference realignment  xx, I have half a mind to say that the Big West can be justified saying and doing and deciding whatever it wants. That said, I'm a Boise State homer, so the Big West's not wanting the Broncos is an egregious mistake that will ruin them. Boise State brings national cachet and competitive sports teams that are as good but not so good as to be that much better than existing Big West schools. The Broncos are more of a geographic fit than Hawaii; Idaho and California practically touch. If the Big West wants to keep growing with quality programs, Boise State is one of the West's best. And we're single.

 BWConfidential: There's an issue of "Boise State is a bigger school in athletics, therefore will be more dominant."  Is this true?

KL: The Broncos will probably compete at the higher end of the Big West, but that's not to say that Boise State is going to dominate the conference. The BSU budget will be larger than the others, but I'm pretty sure that the football team gets the credits and debits of the budget and the rest of the sports pull from petty cash. 

 

BWConfidential: Scenario: BSU joins the Big West.  Who (other than Hawaii or SDSU) becomes the Broncos biggest and most natural rival?

KL: I would like to think that Long Beach State would fit as Boise State's biggest rival, if only because there is some recent shared basketball history there. But the obvious answer is UC Davis for the obvious - and tangential - relationship to Coach Pete and the football team.

 

BWConfidential: Scenario: The Big West declines BSU's application, and now Boise State has to look for other options.  Is the only option available to go back to the Mountain West?

KL:Considering how quickly things change in NCAA conferences nowadays, I find it hard to believe that Boise State would have no options if the Big West falls through. I don't consider the Mountain West to be an option because of the football component. I could see the Broncos taking some sort of weird independent walkabout for a year or two before college god reshuffles the cosmic dominoes and an opening is created in, say, the Big West Sky (a combination of the WCC and the Big Sky, natch).

 

BWConfidential: This is a question inspired by your blog bets: On a scale of fast food restaraunts, the high being Dairy Queen and the low being Taco Bell, how excited do you think Bronco Nation is to be even considered for the Big West?  Are we just a second-hand rag to them, or will the conference be treated with respect?

KL: Assuming Bronco Nation cares about sports other than football, I would say the Big West option is a firm Chick-fil-A (less than a Dairy Queen, but not by much). BSU fans greatest fear would be losing the Big East option or living with relegation on par with whatever fate the University of Idaho finds for itself. That a conference with the clout of the Big West and the familiar faces in San Diego State and Hawaii thinks of us when we're not around is a lot nicer than the alternatives.

 

Thanks a lot to Kevan for being willing to participate.  If you've never done so, GO READ OBNUG!  You get the analysis of all the Bronco football you need, plus a dabbling of the Olympic sports as well.