Boise State is trying to get the Big East and Mountain West to allow the Broncos to retain their home television rights, to guarantee which conference the school ends up in, sources told ESPN.

Boise State is scheduled to leave the Mountain West and join the Big East on July 1, 2013. However, ESPN reported on Nov. 20 the Broncos had been in talks with the Mountain West and were reconsidering the move to the Big East.

On Friday, ESPN reported those talks heated up in recent days after the Big East's seven Catholic basketball schools announced last week they were leaving the league.

Boise State is pitting the Big East against the Mountain West in what one industry source called "a game of chicken" to ensure the Broncos get the most lucrative deal they can.

Boise State has approached multiple networks to gauge how much the Broncos could get if they retained their home television rights as a member of the Big East or MWC.

Such an arrangement is unheard of for a conference member. There are no schools in any FBS conference that retains its home television rights. Still, one industry source believes either the Big East or Mountain West will make an exception for Boise State because they are so desperate to have the Broncos.

"I think at least one conference will allow Boise State to do its own television deal, maybe both of them, for home games," the source said.

However, sources from the Big East and MWC strongly disagreed and said neither league would allow Boise State to keep its home television rights.

"It would devalue the worth of that conference," an industry source said. "No other league members would allow that to happen."

Sources said consultant Joel Lulla, who worked with Boise State in 2011 on its decision to join the Big East, was retained by Boise State again last month about its future conference plans when Rutgers announced it was leaving the Big East for the Big Ten.

Boise State has been trying to leverage the best deal out of both conferences, something industry sources said may backfire on the Broncos.

"Boise reminds me of the teenage recruit who is starting to believe he's the biggest star in town," a source said. "It might be a pretty big letdown when all is said and done. Actually the sentiment of 'who do they think they are' is starting to seep into conversations with folks across college football.

"Let's remember this isn't Alabama, or even Texas Tech, we're talking about. This sorry episode is starting to make it seem like Boise is one of the power assets in college football. In reality their value is relative to the conference they belong to."

Which conference will that be: the Big East or the Mountain West?

Since Boise State announced in December 2011 it would join the Big East on July 1, 2013, the Big East has had 10 schools, including full members Rutgers and Louisville, announce they were leaving the league.

Those defections -- the Big East has lost 17 members since 2004 -- have diminished the worth of the Big East's media rights deal. Before the seven Catholic schools announced they were leaving the Big East, sources told ESPN the Big East's media rights deal was worth about $50 million. The loss of the seven basketball schools would decrease that by another "15-20 percent."