Boise State’s heralded football team will move from the WAC to the Mountain West Conference, effective this fall, and the Broncos have already started to make friends. San Diego State’s head coach, who I’m told is a guy named Rocky Long, is already whining about the famous blue turf in Boise’s home digs.

Rocky Long? That can’t be right, can it?

“I think they ought to get rid of that blue turf. I think it’s unfair,” said Long, the former New Mexico coach who is in his first season as the Aztecs’ head coach.

When asked to expand, Long said, “it takes the visiting team a quarter or two to get used to that different field.”

Long said players “track the ball differently” on the blue turf, particularly since Boise State traditionally wears all-blue uniforms on the blue turf.

–Idaho Statesman, via FanNation.

I honestly haven’t watched enough games at Bronco Stadium to really weigh in with an educated opinion, but if the field is flat and the players are standing up, what difference could the color of the turf possibly make? My only gripe is that it would be harder to visually pick up dog debris. You’d need a pencil just to get that stuff out of your cleats.

UPDATE — The Mountain West Conference will accept Boise St. as it’s 10th member effective July 1, 2011.

It feels like every summer two stories are consistent throughout college athletics; the adoption of a playoff in college football, and conference restructuring that looks more like a game of musical chairs. While the BCS seems to be intact for the time being, a “who’s-who” of power conferences including the Big 1110, Big 12, and Pac 10 are looking to change their list of members. Boise State was hoping to be a part of the mix, banking on the Mountain West Conference to give them a bid. The thought was that the MWC’s tougher competition could smooth the blue turf Broncos’ road to the BCS, opening up Boise to bigger TV revenues, and the opportunity to develop the mid major rivalry that had been forming between them and TCU. Unfortunatly for them, they got no soup from MWC suits.

Commissioner Craig Thompson said the decision to hold off on expansion is tied to the shake-ups and shifting landscape in some of the nation’s bigger conferences. Officials from the Big Ten, Pac-10 and Big 12 are considering adding schools or reorganizing. Thompson said the decision is not final, and that the board may reconsider once the dust settles in the other conferences. “Due to the uncertainty in the intercollegiate landscape, the board did not make a decision to expand at the present time,” Thompson said at the end of the board’s annual meeting in Jackson, Wyo. “The Mountain West will continue to monitor developments … and prepare for potential scenarios.” – ESPN.com

As of now, the league stands at nine teams: BYU, TCU, Utah, Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Deigo State, UNLV, and Wyoming. An illustrious list of football programs to say the least. Like they really need the growing TV contracts that have come with Boise State’s recent BCS success. They have that sweet contract with Versus, which I’m sure you knew of already.

In a collegiate landscape where 12 is the magic number for a conference championship game, the decision to stay at nine is odd to say the least. Colorado is on the MWC’s radar, but that would require the Pac 10 and Big 10 raiding the Big 12 of schools. The bong rippers of Boulder have been mentioned in potential situations that would have them in the Pac 10, which they would obviously take. So who would be a better school than Boise State? Read the rest of this entry »