State Board approves possible Big East move for BSU football

State Board of Education member Milford Terrell moved to authorize BSU President Bob Kustra to make the final decision “as to whether it is in the best interest of the university to accept an invitation to the Big East conference as a football-only member, and to another conference as to the remainder of the university’s intercollegiate sports.” Board member Rod Lewis seconded the motion.

Asked how long all this would take, Kustra told the board, “I would think that by next week we would have a resolution in this matter.” He noted that the appropriate conference varies by sport. “Our wrestling team, for example, is in the PAC-12, because that’s simply the best place for our wrestling team to be,” he said. It’s important, he said, to find the “best match.”

Board member Bill Goesling proposed to delay a vote so the board could gather more information, but his proposal got no second. The board then passed Terrell’s motion on a 7-1 vote, with Goesling, of Moscow, casting the only dissenting vote. Kustra told the board that BSU would join the Big East only if it would play in a new Western Division the conference is establishing, which could include Southern Methodist University, the University of Houston, Boise State, Air Force, and at least one other western school.