Article: Money is Killing BYU Football

[KingCoug]

Good article from KSL. I included the main part of the article in the excerpt below. The entire article can be read at the link.

However, more than injuries, and more than the schedule itself, money is responsible for the not-so-subtle undoing of BYU football. While the Cougars have very little option but to play a front-loaded schedule if they want to have the exposure of a Power 5 conference team without belonging to a Power 5 conference, it doesn’t allow them much room for growth during the early stretch of the season.

While even the best teams in college football may schedule fellow juggernauts in the opening weeks of the season — see Alabama playing Florida State on the opening week of the season, and Ohio State hosting Oklahoma in Week 2 — none of these premier programs play more than one top-tier program before entering conference play. Some schools like Washington, which started the season against Rutgers, Montana and Fresno State, avoid any tough games before conference play.

Financially, for BYU to remain appealing to its TV partners at ESPN, it must play these upper-echelon programs while trying to work out its own early season kinks without the benefit of guaranteed wins against lower-level teams. And when the Cougars suffer an inevitable loss playing against some of college football’s best, they are resigned to playing in a predetermined bowl game, with a less than top-tier financial payout.

Additionally, when nearly every other team in college football enters league play, the Cougars start their season over, competing for a league championship, regardless of how they fared in non-conference play. BYU is stuck matching up with lesser opponents like UMass and Fresno State in games that only serve to get it to bowl eligibility.

For BYU to best compete with Power 5 programs, it relies on the money it gets from its TV deal with ESPN to stay relevant. However, to get that money, it is forced to remain independent and play an early season schedule that could topple even the best programs in college football, taking the Cougars out of the national spotlight over the final month and a half of the season.

While the debate continues surrounding BYU’s lack of conference affiliation, and whether the Cougars should rejoin a lower-level conference, the quest for money has forced the program into a seemingly unfixable Catch-22.

https://www.ksl.com/?sid=46111678&nid=294

[ABYUFAN]

Interesting article... unfortunately it is not completely factually accurate. A competent BYU team this year could easily be undefeated now and garnering national attention. This schedule is loaded with completely winnable games with Power 5 teams. The schedule this year didn't "kill" BYU football.

[hawkwing]

Interesting article... unfortunately it is not completely factually accurate. A competent BYU team this year could easily be undefeated now and garnering national attention. This schedule is loaded with completely winnable games with Power 5 teams. The schedule this year didn't "kill" BYU football.

Yes, this is exactly right. On paper this seemed like a tough schedule, but as we have seen, the teams we've played this year have not been good. There's absolutely no reason BYU shouldn't have 3 or 4 comfortable wins right now.

[snoscythe]

Better, more accurate title: "Independence is Killing BYU Football".

[ABYUFAN]

Better, more accurate title: "Independence is Killing BYU Football".

Or - more accurately- the article should have the headline "BYU is experiencing a downward trend, like literally every other college football team experiences, even those in conferences."

[snoscythe]

Better, more accurate title: "Independence is Killing BYU Football".

Or - more accurately- the article should have the headline "BYU is experiencing a downward trend, like literally every other college football team experiences, even those in conferences."

Not literally every team experiences a historically bad season following a winning season.

You have to go back to pre-Sheide/Wilson days to find a streak of 13 games without 300 yards passing by BYU or a 5-game losing streak.

This isn't a "downward trend", this is a "elevator cables snapped and the emergency brakes fell off" descent.

[Cougs_Rule]

TH sold out these kids for a mess of pottage (money) and a very long shot at "qualifying" for a P5 spot. No big time team was more "down" than Mich State last year. That was an anomaly. We got lucky. We had a Taysom. It's a huge gamble with these schedules that we have more than one or two playmakers. And meet a "down" team.
But hey,things are Looking up! No P5 team will wince at scheduling the BYU patsies after this year. As the tune goes--"Money! Money! Money! Money! Money!"

[Cougs_Rule]

But to be fair, TH is in a very tough spot.
On a positive note: another "Pay day" this week! I'm sure our recruits look forward to justifying to their families and friends and most to their fellow players going to bigger time programs why BYU sucks so bad this year and how this record is just an anomaly. And how they are going for the family enovironment and soft shell practices.

[ABYUFAN]

Better, more accurate title: "Independence is Killing BYU Football".

Or - more accurately- the article should have the headline "BYU is experiencing a downward trend, like literally every other college football team experiences, even those in conferences."

Not literally every team experiences a historically bad season following a winning season.

You have to go back to pre-Sheide/Wilson days to find a streak of 13 games without 300 yards passing by BYU or a 5-game losing streak.

This isn't a "downward trend", this is a "elevator cables snapped and the emergency brakes fell off" descent.

I can generally agree with that (a bit overstated in my opinion, but for the sake of this discussion - let's go with it) We still don't get to blame the "chase for money" or the schedule on the incredible badness that we're seeing on the field. And blaming the wrong thing keeps us from correcting the right thing - wouldn't you agree?

[BroncoBot]

Better, more accurate title: "Independence is Killing BYU Football".

Or - more accurately- the article should have the headline "BYU is experiencing a downward trend, like literally every other college football team experiences, even those in conferences."

Not literally every team experiences a historically bad season following a winning season.

You have to go back to pre-Sheide/Wilson days to find a streak of 13 games without 300 yards passing by BYU or a 5-game losing streak.

This isn't a "downward trend", this is a "elevator cables snapped and the emergency brakes fell off" descent.

I can generally agree with that (a bit overstated in my opinion, but for the sake of this discussion - let's go with it) We still don't get to blame the "chase for money" or the schedule on the incredible badness that we're seeing on the field. And blaming the wrong thing keeps us from correcting the right thing - wouldn't you agree?

I would.