Back when Boise State was Big East bound, their president who is no poker face, had told numerous people within the intercollegiate athletics community that Boise State had to make $4 million more in Big East than MWC for the deal to make financial sense.

My sense of the situation is MWC has done the math and has concluded Boise State cannot leave MWC and be in a better economic situation unless they get a P5. Maybe the math sort of works out if WCC would invite them but WCC showed no such inclination last time and they were going to subsidize Big West to take them.

I think MWC's membership has concluded that they end up no worse off if Boise State leaves as long as the Broncos are getting favored nation status, they were probably within a few dollars (in athletic budget terms) of exactly the same place in a contract without Boise State vs a contract with Boise State that gives the Broncos extra money. Therefore they are more than willing to put the Broncos on notice that they need to leave or accept being equal partners.