Interesting article on BYU, the MWC, the BCS & expansion...

[Schmoe]

Ewww...I don't like the PAC-10, I'd rather stay in the MWC and get the autobid than go to the PAC. My first choice would be the Big XII, second would be MWC autobid...second to last would be getting my face eating off by a pack of starving Bavarian shaved weasels, and last would be moving to the PAC-10.

[Mars]

PAC-10 > Big XII

[frdbtr]

I hope we get gobbled up by the PAC-10 or the Big-12, but, somehow I think we'll be wandering that path through "very dark woods" (or whatever he says). If we don't end up in the PAC-10, perhaps our best option would be to go independent ala Notre Dame?

Going independant would be the death of BYU sports. BYU does not have an NBC contract to broadcasts its games and would not be able to support sports programs without conference money. ND is the only school in the country that has that ability.

[Schmoe]

PAC-10 > Big XII

I think that the Big XII has classier fans and teams, more tradition, and schools that we would fit better with.

[EM_Puma]

PAC-10 > Big XII

I think that the Big XII has classier fans and teams, more tradition, and schools that we would fit better with.

I personally agree with those sentiments exactly, however, currently our recruiting base is much more oriented to the PAC10 and so if you had to pick from any conference and had that opportunity, it would be difficult to not go in the direction of the PAC10. Our base is changing ever so slightly as more polys seem to be home-grown to Texas and we do have the abilty to really recruit nationally based on the LDS connection, but we would still, currently, have more benefits being in the PAC10--if we could pick.

[KYCoug]

Everyone always makes the argument that they have bad teams at the bottom, but so does every conference, including the mighty SEC.

Thought I'd look at the bottom of each of the Conferences to see how they compare.

ACC 5 teams w/loosing seasons 2 with records of 4-8 or worse
Big12 3 teams w/loosing seasons 2 with records of 4-8 or worse
Big E 2 teams w/loosing seasons 2 with records of 4-8 or worse
Big10 4 teams w/loosing seasons 2 with records of 4-8 or worse
Pac10 3 teams w/loosing seasons 2 with records of 4-8 or worse
SEC 2 teams w/loosing seasons 1 with record of 4-8 or worse

Mt West 4 teams w/loosing season 3 with records of 4-8 or worse

So it would only have taken 1 team like New Mexico to have had a normal winning record and then add a Boise and we would be very comparable. You can also see that we are doing great with our top 3 but this has not been a good year for the bottom 3.

Go Cougs!

L Hatton
Louisville KY

[scott715]

Well one of our lower 3 went 3-1 OOC including a win over Colorado. That makes the conference look pretty tough to me. SDSU is turning the corner under a new coach. And what happened to NM? They better be improved next year.

[scott715]

The arugment against adding BSU is that we would knock each other off. That is true. Thinking about it, going to 12 teams and splitting the top 4 would solve that problem. you would have one tough game and then go to the championship game with the winner going to the BCS. The championship could be played in LV with the possibility of doing it in Dallas if we were to add another Texas school.

Under the old WAC the championshiop game was hard to sell out. This time we would have 2 top 25 teams in the game. That should help to get fans out. Plus the game would be much more attractive to tv. We could sell the rights to a network or ESPN.

The argument against 12 teams is that the pie would be split more ways. True but if expansion is done right there should be more money coming in. I hope the decision makers look at future revenues instead of current revenues. I think there is potential here. This is the year to make a bold move.

Another thought, this was the perfect year to not expand. We got 2 teams into the BCS. With expansion it would have been only 1. Maybe we should tell BCS that we don't want in. That effectively we are already AQ and we are beating their system. A little reverse pyschology never hurts.

[hawkwing]

Everyone always makes the argument that they have bad teams at the bottom, but so does every conference, including the mighty SEC.

Thought I'd look at the bottom of each of the Conferences to see how they compare.

ACC 5 teams w/loosing seasons 2 with records of 4-8 or worse
Big12 3 teams w/loosing seasons 2 with records of 4-8 or worse
Big E 2 teams w/loosing seasons 2 with records of 4-8 or worse
Big10 4 teams w/loosing seasons 2 with records of 4-8 or worse
Pac10 3 teams w/loosing seasons 2 with records of 4-8 or worse
SEC 2 teams w/loosing seasons 1 with record of 4-8 or worse

Mt West 4 teams w/loosing season 3 with records of 4-8 or worse

So it would only have taken 1 team like New Mexico to have had a normal winning record and then add a Boise and we would be very comparable. You can also see that we are doing great with our top 3 but this has not been a good year for the bottom 3.

What this doesn't account for is the no-name teams that all of the "premiere" conferences pad their schedules with I wonder how many of the 5 win teams had wins against a div Iaa team and sunbelt bottom feeders?

[KYCoug]

Well one of our lower 3 went 3-1 OOC including a win over Colorado. That makes the conference look pretty tough to me. SDSU is turning the corner under a new coach. And what happened to NM? They better be improved next year.

Except the other 2 were Weber State and Idaho...I hope you're right about next year.