College football realignment turns to Mountain West, Boise State

Perhaps it wouldn't be another round of realignment without the Mounatin West, which has talked with Boise State, BYU and San Diego State about rejoining the league, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation.

ESPN's Brett McMurphy first reported the news. SDSU has since notified the San Diego Union-Tribune it's sticking with the Big East, which is trying to negotiate a television contract with ESPN, NBC and others while Rutgers flees to the Big Ten. Must be difficult to strike a deal when you might not know who's playing in your league next year.

More Big East defections could follow, but it's unclear at this point who's serious about leaving. Up to four Big East schools have talked with the ACC about replacing Maryland, which also joined the Big Ten.

The Mountain West is looking to re-up a television contract with CBS that runs until 2016. A potential Boise/BYU reunion might help negotiations for the MWC. And the league is smart to re-engage with these schools because of the familiarity involved. But if the Mountain West can't increase its television portfolio, it will be hard to do more than flirt.

The league is scheduled to lose Boise and SDSU after this year while picking up Utah State and San Jose State, which have won nine games apiece this season.