BYU to the Big 12?

BYU to the Big 12?

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Texas A&M appears to be breaking up with the Big 12 and pulling the “We’ve got tons of other women (SEC) after us” card. The domino effect is reaching Brigham Young University. By all accounts, BYU would be the Big 12’s first choice as a replacement. Undoubtedly, BYU is flattered by the overture. Will they accept the invite to the prom?

First off, BYU has made it clear they want their football team to be a brand that markets the mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Of course 3rd down conversions don’t directly lead to conversions to the faith. I think it’s safe to say though that a winning football team and one that mostly stays out of trouble certainly raises the awareness of the University and its sponsoring religion. How many more people are now familiar with BYU because of Jimmer Fredette and his magical run? Better yet, how many more people are familiar with BYU and the LDS Church as a result of the school enforcing the Honor Code and dismissing Brandon Davies from the basketball team?

BYU knows football is the most popular and visible sport in this country. What better way to gain exposure for the church than to have a team in the top 25 each year and be able to tout that they do it the right way, thus avoiding the embarrassment that has befallen so many schools this past off-season. Do I think BYU never violates a rule? Of course not. You can’t compete at the highest level if you’re not pushing the envelope a bit. For the most part though, they run a pretty clean program.

That leads to the next issue. If you’re going to operate a program like BYU does – you’re going to have a smaller pool of recruits to choose from. This translates into an inability to be a top 10-15 team. I think BYU understands that and they’re okay with it.

However, the entire premise of football independence/ESPN exposure/marketing the religious affiliation, etc. is meaningless unless you win games.

Therein lies the problem for BYU. Can they have their cake and eat it too?

Will a BYU team full of good players, but not 5 star recruits, compete and win 8-10 games each year to stay on the national radar. Can they maybe once every 5 years, qualify for a BCS game? Can they keep their fans happy? That’s what they want and they want to do it on ESPN or whatever mainstream network they can get on. They also want to make some cash while they’re at it.

So is this best accomplished via football independence or through membership in a highly visible BCS conference?

With independence, you figure they’ll continue to pad their schedule with some guaranteed wins, but build in some marquee games as well. That method should produce routine 8 – 10 win seasons. Will it keep fans happy though?

Joining the Big 12 would be a lot different. As Utah is about to find out, week in and week out will be much tougher. Getting to 9 or 10 wins won’t be easy. I suppose the goal would still be to have that great team every 5 or 6 years that could beat out both Oklahoma and Texas, win the conference and play in a BCS bowl. In the “off” years, would 7-5 or 8-4 with known conference foes on the home schedule be more attractive. Located in Provo, UT, will BYU and their fans really be able to forge rivalries with teams that are in a completely different part of the country. You could argue they did with TCU and that as an independent, their “mixed bag” of a schedule does not create any long term affiliation or rivalry. So why not?

One more critical point is that if college football does end up moving to the model of 4, 16 team super conferences, BYU might want to already be part of a BCS conference. This would seem to guarantee their inclusion in one of the super conferences.

Check out the follwoing links from Jay Drew and Kurt Kragthorpe of the Salt Lake Tribune. Both go further into the issues at hand.

It’s crazy to think that in just two years time BYU could go from being ditched by Utah and scorned by the PAC 12, to the bold move of independence, to the big stage of a BCS conference.

What’s even crazier is that BYU could actually turn down the Big 12 offer and continue it alone. Unlike the Tribune opinion from Kragthorpe, I don’t think that would be a huge mistake. With the right independent schedule and continued coverage on ESPN, the Cougars could both win games and enjoy the exposure they crave.

We’ll see how it plays out-

Matt Nielson has been writing about the college sports landscape in Utah and the Intermountain West since 2010. When he’s not pretending to be a professional blogger, he works full time as a residential real estate agent and house flipper. Matt graduated from Brigham Young University in 2000. He and his family reside in Salt Lake City, UT.

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  1. Kristina
    Kristina09-02-2011

    love it Matt! I'm excited to be a loyal follower once again. Caught some of the hype over the Utah game yesterday…

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