The Mountain West and Boise State storyline now has an interesting subplot. Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com is reporting that the Pac-10 is prepared to offer Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado to join its league and create a television station with the FOX networks. Brown cites “multiple sources” on this groundbreaking news. So what does that mean for the Mountain West, Boise State and the upcoming spring meetings? Well, if this rumor is true, the Big 12 is going to be shopping for several new schools just to stay afloat especially if Missouri and Nebraska are in talks with the Big Ten, which has been a rampant rumor. A conference needs at least eight members to keep its automatic qualifying status and the Big 12 would be left with Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, and Kansas State. That would put teams such as TCU, Utah, Colorado State and New Mexico right in the Big 12’s crosshairs mostly because of their unique television markets (and probably Houston and Tulsa, too). Now, here’s the question: Is a depleted Big 12 better than the current Mountain West with Boise State? Of course not, well, at least not in football. The remaining Big 12 teams couldn’t line up on the same field with TCU, Utah, BYU and Boise State (should the Broncos switch conferences). But there’s also the TV revenue to consider (but who knows what that will look like when the top markets bolt), the other teams the conference might invite to fill out the 12, and basketball, which plays a huge role since three of the four remaining teams in the Big 12 have Top 25 basketball programs. So, I’m opening this up for discussion. If the Pac-10 does indeed invite those six members and Missouri and Nebraska go to the Big Ten, does the Mountain West become the most attractive option for the schools that were rumored to be on their way out the door? Also, does the Mountain West look at expanding even further to capitalize on the Big 12’s weakness and limit that conference’s options for rebuilding? Send your thoughts to my mailbag and I’ll post some of them Friday.

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Report might make Mountain West more secure