Brigham Young won’t be part of the Big East’s westward expansion.

Negotiations between the rebuilding conference and BYU have broken off, a person familiar with the talks told The Associated Press. The person spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the conference and school have not been making their talks public.

“BYU to the Big East is dead. It’s not going to happen,” the person said.

BYU athletic department spokesman Brett Pyne said in an email that school officials declined a request for comment.

The Big East was trying to add BYU as part of its plan to become a 12-team football league.

The deal-breaker was television rights. The person says BYU wanted to retain the rights to its home football games and the league could not agree to that.

No other school in a major conference has such a deal.

BYU, based in Provo, Utah, left the Mountain West Conference after last season to become a football independent. The school entered its other sports in the West Coast Conference and struck an eight-year-deal with ESPN. BYU also has its own television network.

The Big 12 had courted BYU earlier this year when it was looking to replace Texas A&M and later Missouri, but working out a television agreement prevented a deal.

The Big East ultimately ran into the same problem as it tried to persuade the school to become a football-only member.

Big East Commissioner John Marinatto had been talking to BYU about joining the league for weeks. But the school’s desire to retain the TV rights to its home games did not come up until late in the discussions, the person said.

Negotiations between the league and school ended in the last 48 hours, the person said.

The fruitless negotiations with BYU have held up the Big East’s expansion plans. The conference for weeks has been courting Boise State, Air Force and Navy as football-only members, and Conference USA schools SMU, Houston and Central Florida to join in all sports.

Boise State and Air Force play in the MWC. Navy is a football independent.

The move west for the Big East was prompted by the announced departures of Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the Atlantic Coast Conference in September.

Then West Virginia announced late last month that it was ditching the Big East for the Big 12, leaving the Big East with five long-term football members and opening another spot. Adding BYU then became a priority.

Now that BYU is off the table, the Big East will move on to other schools.

Temple, which plays in the Mid-American Conference and was once in the Big East, has been trying to get back in. East Carolina, another C-USA school, publicly announced it had applied for membership, and C-USA rival Memphis has also been pushed by some in the Big East for its excellent basketball program, most notably Louisville coach Rick Pitino.

But Boise State, which is nearly 1,900 miles away from the closest current Big East member – Louisville – would prefer the Big East bulk up its new western division. Provo is 382 miles from Boise, Idaho.

CBSSports.com reported Tuesday that San Diego State of the Mountain West is the Big East’s next western target.

San Diego State Athletic Director Jim Sterk told The San Diego Union-Tribune through a spokesman on Tuesday that there was nothing new regarding the Big East, but the school did have preliminary discussions with the conference several weeks ago.

The Big East has been trying to convince potential members that joining will lead to more television revenue, greater television exposure and access to an automatic BCS bid.

The Big East is one of six conferences with automatic qualifying status in the Bowl Championship Series through the 2013 season. But beyond that, there is no guarantee the conference will have an automatic BCS bid.

Even if the Big East can complete its expansion plans and bring in seven new schools, the new-look league might not debut until 2013. There are stumbling blocks that could prevent most of the potential new members from joining next year.

Marinatto has been adamant about making Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia honor the Big East’s 27-month notification period, which would keep those schools in the conference until 2014.

West Virginia has sued the Big East in its effort to join the Big 12 by next football season. The Big East filed its own lawsuit to force West Virginia to stay.

© 2011 The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The Big East is working hard to put BYU in its new west wing.

A person with knowledge of the conference’s expansion plans tells The Associated Press that Big East officials have made adding BYU a priority as they try to become a 12-team football conference.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because negotiations were supposed to remain confidential.

BYU is in its first season as football independent. If it did move to the Big East it would be for football only. The school’s other teams play in the West Coast Conference.

The Big East is close to adding as many as seven new members, including Boise State, Air Force and Navy for football only, and SMU, Houston and UCF in all sports.

Boise State is primed to make the jump to the Big East. Two weeks ago, the Idaho State Board of Education gave the school permission to pursue membership and leave the Mountain West Conference.

But with Boise State nearly 1,900 miles away from the closest current Big East member – Louisville – school officials have let Big East Commissioner John Marinatto know that they would prefer a western partner. BYU is located in Provo, Utah. Provo and Boise are 382 miles apart.

BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall said last week that there was a “push” by the Big East to have BYU join.

The Big East has been working toward adding Boise State, the two military academies and the three Conference USA schools for more than a month.

The plan was formulated in response to the announcement on Sept. 18 that Pittsburgh and Syracuse were leaving for the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Then another spot in the Big East opened late last month when West Virginia announced it was moving to the Big 12. At that point, Temple and Memphis seemed like strong candidates to join the league, but BYU has moved past those schools now, the person said.

The C-USA schools are ready to make the move and Navy also seems to be leaning heavily toward joining, the person said.

Air Force has been non-committal about leaving the Mountain West, and that is part of the reason why such focus has been placed on adding BYU, the person said.

BYU’s television deals could complicate the process.

When BYU left the Mountain West Conference last year to become a football independent, it signed a deal with ESPN that gives the network the rights to air a minimum of three football games a season. The deal runs through 2018.

The school also has its own cable network, which airs at least one football game a season.

The Big East will begin negotiating a new television deal next year.

Part of the Big East’s recruiting pitch has been that the new members would stand to make substantially more in television revenue by joining the league.

Boise State President Bob Kustra estimated the annual payout to Big East football members at $3.7 million under its current TV contract, compared to the $1.9 million projected as the top payout in the Mountain West. Big East officials believe the league will be able to more than double payouts to members with the league’s next TV deal.

Even if the Big East can get all seven schools to join, there is no guarantee the new Big East will be up and running by 2012.

Conference USA bylaws would stand in the way of SMU, Houston and UCF joining in 2012, and it would be less costly for Boise State and Air Force to join the Big East in 2013 instead of next year.

Marinatto has been adamant about making Pitt, Syracuse and West Virginia comply with the league’s bylaws and stay in the league until 2014.

West Virginia already has sued the Big East in an effort to become a Big 12 member next year. The Big East counter-sued to keep the Mountaineers.

© 2011 The Associated Press.