Happy BYU will remain Independent

[Yzzazz]

I am for one am relieved that the Big 12 did not decide to invite BYU into the conference. I think it is actually better for them in the long run.

Sure the obvious benefits are there: money in the short term, fun games, and the biggie--the possibility of getting into the playoffs with one loss.

That being said, I think the Big 12 would end up dragging the BYU program down. It is possible that the Big 12 may languish in the years to come and that being part of them will be a liability (recall the fate of the Big East). Given what title IX and some political activism can do to a football program nowadays, only the strongest, big-money conferences are invulnerable from being weakened--the Big 12 presidents showed yesterday that they don't know how to make that happen for themselves.

I mean imagine just one thing: adding Notre Dame. Yeah I know ND has prohibitive agreements with the ACC etc., but for the right amounts of money any agreement can be rewritten. If Notre Dame's TV money were added into the deal, ESPN and Fox would have been heavily pressuring the league to expand instead of doing the opposite. So why didn't someone make THAT happen? Because ultimately that would have had to become a detriment to ND's cashflow and ND would have said no.

So bottom line the expansion died because the TV execs knew it was a proposition which would cost them big time and the Big 12 presidents couldn't think of a way to turn up enough money to recompense the networks. Now given that reality, what solution out there would have made it possible for BYU to be in the Big 12 that didn't somehow take away from BYU's own potential with its own network? The answer is there wasn't one, so the only way BYU gets in is if something were to happen to make BYU help pay for its own inclusion. Then we're back to the MWC days. If that's how unattractive the Big12 is, then their long-term future is bleak.

I think BYU might have just avoided winning a ticket on the Titanic!

Tom Holmoe said in an interview this week that scheduling has become easier for BYU, so maintaining this level of competition is achievable year after year. With a schedule like this one, an independent can actually make the playoffs on its own. I think the future is brightest for BYU down this path--uncertain though it may be.

I really like the idea that a future BYU could play six P5 teams a year from three different conferences. It seems interesting that BYU could be a lynch-pin in the comparison of teams towards the end of the season--kind of like college football's yearly Kevin Bacon index.

All in all, I think independence suits BYU best because academia is becoming very politicized. The gay thing was not a big factor this time around (despite how much they want to make noise to the contrary), but it could very well become a roadblock in the future. ESPN will go where the money is. If BYU draws, ESPN will pay to produce their events. Independence is the best way to monetize that over the long term.

[ABYUFAN]

Agree with all of the above. And I love the WCC

[BroncoBot]

Amen.

[Cougarfan87]

Admittedly, I wanted the money and home games, but I am glad to hear Tom say scheduling has gotten easier. If we could just get a regular schedule with some of the WAC and MWC teams that don't suck too badly, like we have with Boise State and Utah State, and continue our great games front loading the schedule, I think we would be fine. I would like to see Air Force and Colorado State added back in the mix, but that is about it.

Though I wanted the Big 12, and it may have been the Titanic, there is a lot to be happy about with Independence.

[vancouvercougar]

I like independence, but I'd like to backload the season vs front load with tough teams.

[BroncoBot]

I like independence, but I'd like to backload the season vs front load with tough teams.

Very difficult to do I imagine.

[YNot]

I like the apparent format for the 2020-2023 seasons. We end with Stanford or USC each season and have room for Utah, Boise St., Utah St., and Hawaii, with 5 or 6 P5 opponents each year - and at least one each month.

I hope that we can push the Boise St. games to the end of October and get another P5 in October - like we have this year (the MSU's), 2017 (at Mississippi St.), and 2019 (at Washington St.).

I would like to see Hawaii each year in November - hopefully before or after a BYE week. That gives us the added bonus of the ability to play a late August payday home game every other year (when we play at Hawaii).

I personally prefer more home games in August, September, and October and fewer in November. November weather in Provo is usually lame and not fun for football - which hurts attendance and the game atmosphere. So, I like the idea to end the season with the November road game in California and have a November road game in Hawaii every other year.

Fill in the gaps with a couple of AAC schools (preferably Houston, UCF, USF, UConn, Cincinnati) and a couple of old MWC/WAC foes (my preferences are UNLV, SDSU, Air Force, CSU).

The schedule template could look like this:

AUGUST
FCS Payday home game [every other year, when we play at Hawaii]

SEPTEMBER
PAC [ASU in '20, Arizona in '21, Oregon in '22, Stanford in '23]
P5 [Michigan St. in'20, ASU in '21, Virginia in '23]
Utah
AAC [USF in '21 and '22]

OCTOBER
Utah St. [General Conference Friday]
[P5] [Baylor? in in '21 and '22?]
[AAC/MWC]
Boise St.[move from early Oct to end of Oct]

NOVEMBER
P5 home game (Missouri in '20, Virginia in '21 and '25 so far)
[Hawaii]
[AAC/MWC]
at Stanford in '20 ad '22, USC in '21 and '23]

[UCChris]

The only thing that I think BYU will miss out on is better recruiting. I honestly think joining a P5 conference is what it is going to take for BYU to get some of these key recruits and go to the next level.

[EM_Puma]

Shhhhhhhh. Don't mention this to KSL's Ben Anderson.

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=41892990&nid=29 ... g-what-now

After reading his article, I think all of us Cougar fans should just go out and shoot ourselves and put ourselves out of all our misery.