D
Dcr36I understand that a lot of people are mourning over the death of our Big XII dreams. I wanted in, too. It sucks. It sucks that what was always my #1 goal for this program was apparently in reach and for whatever reason it didn't happen. It sucks that it gives another thing for Ute fans to gloat about.
And additionally, I know it sucks when you're pissed off about something and someone tells you to look on the bright side. But I think we're losing sight of some good things coming our way.
1. Our home schedule will get better. That's not optimistic speculation, that's fact. This has been a crappy year for home games (except for me, I actually like cupcakes). We've got at least one marquee matchup at LES every year for the next 4 years. 2013 looks especially bright. It's not the same as having OU and Texas there every couple of years, but letting this year's schedule put a damper on your outlook is unrealistic.
2. Our Conference-USA games. Really, no joke. The conference is getting better. I don't know if anyone else has been paying attention, but the three teams we've been booking so far (Houston, UCF and Southern Miss) are all REALLY good this year. Houston's undefeated, in the top 25, and I believe they'll replace Case Keenum just as they replaced Kevin Kolb. (It took getting down to their 3rd string QB to make them suck last year.) Southern Miss has one loss, did a great job shellacking Navy last week, and they haven't had a losing season Bill Clinton's first year in office. UCF will probably be a Big East team by the time we play them next.
Frankly, and I'm not lying to myself here, there's not a whole lot of difference in my mind between playing Houston, USM, and UCF as there is playing Baylor, Iowa State and Kansas State (this year notwithstanding ;) ).
3. Recruiting and future players. I don't know if Jake Heaps will pan out. I hope he will. Regardless, though, we still have good talent coming in from Hill and Mangum. One of those three should pan out. ;) More importantly, I'm encouraged that their out-of-state kids, even if their both from Idaho. BYU will always have appeal to a certain demographic, not just in the state of Utah. I'm excited for many incoming recruits, especially at LB. Hopefully we can pump a few of the ones we got into the NFL and let kids know this is a school that will develop them.
A lot of people have been posting that our lack of conference affiliation means that talented LDS kids are going to look elsewhere to play. I believe that's a challenge we have to face. We're facing it already. But I'm pretty resolute in believing that BYU is always going to be choice #1 for a lot of kids by very virtue of being BYU. The Church may give us a low ceiling, but it gives us a high floor as well. Recruits will want to play for BYU for the same reason we want to cheer for them. It's a unique and special school. I thought Bronco nailed it when after BYU got Troy Hinds (another reason to be excited), he stated that for most of our recruits, it's not so much about the schools we play as much as it is about the school we are.
If kids were still willing to come to BYU after everything that happened on and off the field from 2002-2005, I think we'll continue to find players.
4. All the other reasons we were excited about independence in the first place. Even if you were hoping that independence would be nothing more than a stepping stone, I still think we have to agree that we're in a better place now than we were playing in a reconfigured WAC that'll probably get raided by the Big East in about a month.
5. For me, part of the reason we NEEDED to get into the Big XII was Superconference Armageddon. I don't think that's going to be happening for a while, especially with the steps the Big XII has made. Of the six conferences, I can only see one of them imploding, and I actually think the Big East might pull this off.
6. We're not as irrelevant this season as we keep telling ourselves. We've been embarrassed on national TV once. Aside from that, we've given ESPN 5 decent, watchable games. I worry about future series with BSU, Texas, ND, etc. but there's a lot that can happen with our own team and their teams between now and then. If there's one thing I've never thought watching BYU struggle this year, I've never thought that we don't have the capacity to be much better.
Anyways, that's all I got to say. The sky may not be as bright as it was three weeks ago, but it's certainly not falling.
And additionally, I know it sucks when you're pissed off about something and someone tells you to look on the bright side. But I think we're losing sight of some good things coming our way.
1. Our home schedule will get better. That's not optimistic speculation, that's fact. This has been a crappy year for home games (except for me, I actually like cupcakes). We've got at least one marquee matchup at LES every year for the next 4 years. 2013 looks especially bright. It's not the same as having OU and Texas there every couple of years, but letting this year's schedule put a damper on your outlook is unrealistic.
2. Our Conference-USA games. Really, no joke. The conference is getting better. I don't know if anyone else has been paying attention, but the three teams we've been booking so far (Houston, UCF and Southern Miss) are all REALLY good this year. Houston's undefeated, in the top 25, and I believe they'll replace Case Keenum just as they replaced Kevin Kolb. (It took getting down to their 3rd string QB to make them suck last year.) Southern Miss has one loss, did a great job shellacking Navy last week, and they haven't had a losing season Bill Clinton's first year in office. UCF will probably be a Big East team by the time we play them next.
Frankly, and I'm not lying to myself here, there's not a whole lot of difference in my mind between playing Houston, USM, and UCF as there is playing Baylor, Iowa State and Kansas State (this year notwithstanding ;) ).
3. Recruiting and future players. I don't know if Jake Heaps will pan out. I hope he will. Regardless, though, we still have good talent coming in from Hill and Mangum. One of those three should pan out. ;) More importantly, I'm encouraged that their out-of-state kids, even if their both from Idaho. BYU will always have appeal to a certain demographic, not just in the state of Utah. I'm excited for many incoming recruits, especially at LB. Hopefully we can pump a few of the ones we got into the NFL and let kids know this is a school that will develop them.
A lot of people have been posting that our lack of conference affiliation means that talented LDS kids are going to look elsewhere to play. I believe that's a challenge we have to face. We're facing it already. But I'm pretty resolute in believing that BYU is always going to be choice #1 for a lot of kids by very virtue of being BYU. The Church may give us a low ceiling, but it gives us a high floor as well. Recruits will want to play for BYU for the same reason we want to cheer for them. It's a unique and special school. I thought Bronco nailed it when after BYU got Troy Hinds (another reason to be excited), he stated that for most of our recruits, it's not so much about the schools we play as much as it is about the school we are.
If kids were still willing to come to BYU after everything that happened on and off the field from 2002-2005, I think we'll continue to find players.
4. All the other reasons we were excited about independence in the first place. Even if you were hoping that independence would be nothing more than a stepping stone, I still think we have to agree that we're in a better place now than we were playing in a reconfigured WAC that'll probably get raided by the Big East in about a month.
5. For me, part of the reason we NEEDED to get into the Big XII was Superconference Armageddon. I don't think that's going to be happening for a while, especially with the steps the Big XII has made. Of the six conferences, I can only see one of them imploding, and I actually think the Big East might pull this off.
6. We're not as irrelevant this season as we keep telling ourselves. We've been embarrassed on national TV once. Aside from that, we've given ESPN 5 decent, watchable games. I worry about future series with BSU, Texas, ND, etc. but there's a lot that can happen with our own team and their teams between now and then. If there's one thing I've never thought watching BYU struggle this year, I've never thought that we don't have the capacity to be much better.
Anyways, that's all I got to say. The sky may not be as bright as it was three weeks ago, but it's certainly not falling.