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PROVO — BYU's long-term series with Boise State that included a 10-game series beginning in 2025 may be coming to a conclusion by or before the end of the current contract in 2023.
This isn't according to a report from some media outlets or a message board post, but out of the mouth — or at least, Twitter account — of the Broncos' athletic director himself.
In a tweet during a question-and-answer segment with Broncos fans, Boise State athletic director Jeremiah Dickey said that his school's current deal with BYU has "one more game with them and then done ... for now." The Cougars and Broncos were set to conclude the current contract Nov. 5 in Boise, with a new, 10-game series in 2025.
But with BYU's upcoming move to the Big 12 Conference in 2023, several contracts that athletic director Tom Holmoe had previously scheduled as far out as the 2035 season are up in the air. That's the task of the Cougar athletic director as he prepares his university for its new conference home in two years.
Earlier Tuesday, Jon Wilner of the Bay Area News Group reported that the game between BYU and USC scheduled for late November 2023 was "unlikely to be played," citing a conference source. The Cougars also have "open lines of communication" with Stanford regarding upcoming games in 2025, 2026, 2028, 2029, 2031 and 2035, and conversations have already begun about rescheduling a lost game in 2020 that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A BYU spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment on the news. Representatives from Boise State similarly declined comment to Bronco Nation News.
One more game with them and then done...for now. They have been awesome to work with. Challenging for them as an independent. Utah and Utah State also important to their base. I have hope we can get a H/H in future but they need to figure out Big 12, etc & I completely understand
— Jeramiah Dickey (@JeramiahDickey) January 25, 2022
"BYU fans are going to see many of our football games scheduled for the future move around over the next few years. That's just part of the new reality for us, moving into the Big 12, with a bevy of conference games that we are excited to play," Holmoe told KSL.com back in November, when the Cougars first saw movement via pushing back a game with South Florida. "We are confident that we'll be able to restructure schedules in a way that will be of greatest benefit for our football program, while coming up with solutions to existing contracts."
Dickey added that BYU has been "awesome to work with" during an independent era that has been "challenging." But a potential move to a nine-game Big 12 schedule, mixed with BYU's desire to maintain in-state rivalries with Utah and Utah State, led to both sides taking a step back on the upcoming deal.
"I have hope we can get a (home-and-home) in the future," Dickey wrote, "but they need to figure out Big 12, etc., and I completely understand."
BYU and Boise State first played in 2003 and have played every year since 2012, shortly after the Cougars left the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos are 8-4 all-time in the series, including a 26-17 win over then-No. 10 BYU this past fall in Provo.
