mormonrasta wrote:

Top half? Let's see... from the top metropolitan areas of the MWC (US Census estimate 07-01-2006)

1. San Diego 2,941,454
2. Ft. Worth/Arlington- 1,984,468
3. Las Vegas- 1,777,539
4. Salt Lake/Odgen/Clearfield- 1,067,722
5. Albuquerque- 816,811
6. Colorado Springs- 599,127
7. Provo/Orem- 474,180
8. Fort Collins/Loveland- 276,253
9. Laramie, Wyoming- 30,000

Boise/Nampa- 567,640.

But Boise is growing soooooo fast. Not really. In terms of actual people not percentage Boise isn't growing any faster than Albuquerque, Las Vegas, San Diego, Provo/Orem, or Ft. Worth.

Aw, your sarcasm is soooooo cute.

History of Idaho's population since 1970:
1970- 712,567
1980- 943,935
1990- 1,006,749
2000- 1,293,953
2007- 1,499,402
Est. 2011- Approx. 1,750,000

Growth Rate:
13.5% from 2000-2006 (among tops NATIONALLY).

The Boise metro area has a population of 635,450, estimated to pass 900,000 in 2011.

Bronco football games are also broadcast widely (local), even in the Spokane/Lewiston & Coeur d'Alene media markets (403,820 households).

And while Boise State has all of Idaho locked down with voracious fans, TCU is the 5th option in Dallas behind Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor, not to mention all of the professional teams like the Texans, the Mavericks, etc. And you think SDSU controls San Diego? They are the 3rd option behind USC and UCLA, let alone the Lakers, Padres, Angels, etc. We've already seen how little Vegas residents care about UNLV. Boise State suffers from NONE of those major issues. Besides which, here are the markets which the Broncos carry currently (local television broadcasts of home football games):

#113 Boise- 251,920 households
#77 Spokane- 403,820 households (Northern Idaho's market too)
#163 Idaho Falls-Pocatello- 120,100 households
#193 Twin Falls- 62,590 households
Total- 838,430 (and that does NOT include every Idaho market, which could be thrown in there as well with the massive support the Broncos carry in their home state)

Plus, Enrollment:
Boise State- 19,540
Wyoming- 13,126
TCU- 8,749
Air Force- 4,365

And, Stadium Size / Seating Capacity:
Boise St- 30,338 / 101.13%


Of course, this isn't even the important stuff. That would be statistics like 76-14 over the past 7 seasons, including 52-4 in the WAC.

I think we have to realize that we should count the wasach front not just the Provo/Orem area. There are alot of us cougar fans here in the Salt Lake area.

Just like there are a ton of BYU fans in SE Idaho. We're not all Bronco fans. In fact, I see more BYU gear running around, probably 3-1 over those ponies.
I don't go looking too hard for Bronco coverage, but I think it is just as easy (if not easier) to get BYU around here--even with the crappy coverage we get.

I think BSU would be a very good fit for the MWC. No I don't think all of us here are fans of them only. I certainly cheered for them when they bedazzled Oklahoma. I would cheer for them and many others against most other BSC schools but not against BYU.

I do hope the population predictions do not come to pass. I'd just as leave Idaho stay as it is. Vain hope I'm afraid.

Boise Fans are loyal and passionate! Lets take'em. We all agree it would increase the intensity. The MWC could always use more instensity. Even stupid people know Boise is a good addition.

Nevada, yes a good addition too.(UNLV rivalry). Frenso, probably (SDSU rivalry). One more possibility to consider is Houston. Great football and basketball in C-USA. A great rival to TCU (Dallas). A superb TV market.

Add three and make the MOUNTAIN-12. or even four. who cares, the Big East has how many basketball teams ?

Mars wrote:

[b] And while Boise State has all of Idaho locked down with voracious fans [/color]

I don't know if you could say ALL of Idaho. I know more BYU fans the BSU fans. There's quite a few people that drive down to Provo for every home game. Come to think about it, at church it's not uncommon to hear people talking about BYU/Utah games but never hear anything about BSU. I think it's safe to say that BSU has A LOT of competition for loyalties in SE Idaho.