The Front Row with MARK NELKE May 20, 2012

Poor Boise State.

As great as their football program has been over the past half-dozen years or so, we may never know if the Broncos will ever be good enough to play for a national title.

Every time they try to position themselves for such a thing, the rules change.

They thought by joining the Mountain West, and then the Big East in 2013, that would give them a better chance to play in a big-time bowl game - perhaps the national title game.

But the current proposal of a four-team playoff would almost certainly leave them out of the title-game mix, as would talk of only teams from the top four conferences - and the Big East isn't one of those four - being eligible for a playoff system.

Which leads us to Boise State's other dilemma - what to do with all its other programs.

The Mountain West won't let them park there after the football team leaves for the Big East. They had a deal to rent space in the Western Athletic Conference, but schools have since abandoned that ship at an alarming rate, leaving only four schools - Idaho, New Mexico State, Seattle and Denver - signed up for 2013 and beyond.

There have apparently been flirtations with the Big West Conference, which will take in San Diego State's other programs when that school joins the Big East at the same time as Boise State. That league might seem a logical fit - except the Big West has often said it wants to remain an all-California conference.

So when did Idaho become part of California? I thought it was the other way around.

And I would imagine the Big Sky Conference would take in Boise State's other teams in a heartbeat.

Anyway, we have the solution for Boise State's programs, other than football.

The Scenic West Athletic Conference.

Now, the NCAA might frown on one of its members breaking the rules by placing most of its sports in a junior college league, but who cares? There are no rules anymore. Schools change leagues on a whim, whenever they want, even when the rules say they can’t leave yet.

But imagine the money Boise State would save by playing in the Scenic West. That bus trip to Twin Falls would be a piece of cake, and imagine how big those BSU-CSI men’s basketball games would become.

Salt Lake City is just an extended bus trip. The road to Rangely, Colo., might be difficult in the middle of winter, but getting to Ruston, La., is not a piece of cake either.

They say the SWAC is one of the top junior college leagues in the country, and some of BSU’s teams already play SWAC schools — albeit in offseason competition. Still, if the junior colleges are good enough to play BSU then ...

And if Boise State’s teams wanted to avoid the “drunk and inebriated” Idaho fans in Moscow, they could simply direct their bus through eastern Oregon and the Tri-Cities and up to Spokane, on their road trips to NIC.

The chances of a Boise State playing in the SWAC in all sports but football would never happen, but it wouldn’t be the craziest thing to happen in college athletics these days.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.