BYU to Big East FB only has positives. And momentum

First off, the Big East had reps at the BYU-Idaho game last weekend. They have to sell us on Big East. But I think BYU is going to buy, unless Big XII makes a late offer.



Second, ESPN Game day is traveling to Houston to watch them play SMU this week. Both schools are rumored to be Big East targets with invites. Perfect time to announce is Friday, so it gets huge cover all weekend long on ESPN.



Other talk out of Orlando now is that BYU is not just seriously considering, but solid on it.

http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=531591" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

West Division

UCF

BYU

AF

Boise

Houston

SMU

East Division

USF

UCONN

Rutgers

Louisville

Cincy

Navy



BYU would play AFA, BSU, SMU, Houston and UCF annually, with 2-3 other games from the other pool. That would mean games for BYU in Dallas, Houston, Central Florida, and a year end game with Boise State each year, along with AFA. Looking at those points, it makes a lot of sense for BYU. Add to it games at Rutgers and UCONN (NYC market) every 4 years (they come here 1 in 4 too), along with decent markets like Louisville and Cinci, and a game vs. Navy, and I totally see it. Questions is, will it be 7 or 8 league games. Bet BYU wants 7, so can keep long terms with ND/Hawaii and USU, plus 2 other western games per year.



I bet the Big East lets us keep our ESPN home deal just to get us in league. Which means 1 less mouth to feed with the league deal for the other 11 schools. Probably let us use BYUtv as well for all games rebroadcast.



All we need to make this truly ideal is games vs. UCLA/USC/SDSU on a rolling basis to get into the SoCal market. If that can happen, this is actually a sweet deal for BYU all the way around. BEtter BCS access, a conference title to play for, ESPN deal, BYUtv exposure, and set games each year to play. Did I also mention some hoops games vs. BE teams as well as part of the deal? Dave Rose will be pleased with that too.



What I am saying is, this could go down soon. Most likely for 2013 and football only. Not saying I am 100% certain, but am hearing rumblings, and not from any twitter source.

Swore I wouldn't start following the rumor mill again...



I have one question, and while it was pointed out on that thread, I didn't see an answer - why the heck is UCF in the West division instead of Louisville? Especially since this rumor looks like it came out of Orlando.

Word is that BYU, BSU and other western schools requested it for access into Florida (recruiting) over Louisville. So it was a negotiated condition for entry is the rumor.

What I haven't understood lately is that the talk on conference alignment kind of died down. The last I was led to believe was that Houston, UCF, SMU, AF and Boise had been offered membership, but that surfaced almost a month ago, and since there has been no word from any of the schools that they are gone. What is everyone waiting on? I understand that in the case of BSU and AF, they would have to find homes for their non-FB sports. I understand that delay, but I haven't understood why nothing yet definitive on the other schools.

Penn State issue overshadowed all, and basically ruled the talk of CFB. Heard the wait was due to Big East and BSU working on BYU, then the Penn State issues.



I think this rumor is not one that will linger like the B12 stuff. If it happens, will most likely be this week.



The fact that TH and BM both talked publicly about his also gives this story more legs.



FWIW, I expect us to be in by weeks end. But I am not 100% certain. Just my gut based upon things I have heard.



MWC<Indy<Big East<Big XII. So an improvement again in my book.

Dcr36 wrote:
Swore I wouldn't start following the rumor mill again...



I have one question, and while it was pointed out on that thread, I didn't see an answer - why the heck is UCF in the West division instead of Louisville? Especially since this rumor looks like it came out of Orlando.

I read that Louisville and Cincinnati are putting up a fight about being in the west division. UCF is a new team without bargaining power. So they get put in the west.

Lawboy wrote:
Other talk out of Orlando now is that BYU is not just seriously considering, but solid on it.

One thing I've learned in this process is that no one knows for certain except for the actual individuals making the decision. Not blaming you, but I've had too much of what people believe is "solid". Only rumors and so far any of the rumors as they relate to BYU have been off the mark. I think the problem is that many of the media types use logic and you can seldom use logic when applied to BYU.

I posted nothing as fact. Just as rumor of what is out there, and things I am hearing. And not from Orlando papers. That was to illustrate what I heard. If you do not want to read up on the latest, just skip the thread. But as it relates to BYU athletics, I figured people here would have an interest in it. This could happen soon. All I am saying.

EM_Puma wrote:
What I haven't understood lately is that the talk on conference alignment kind of died down. The last I was led to believe was that Houston, UCF, SMU, AF and Boise had been offered membership, but that surfaced almost a month ago, and since there has been no word from any of the schools that they are gone. What is everyone waiting on? I understand that in the case of BSU and AF, they would have to find homes for their non-FB sports. I understand that delay, but I haven't understood why nothing yet definitive on the other schools.

On the rumor board they say that the info was supposed to be last week, but with the PSU blow up they decided to wait to have more attention given to it. i t makes sense to have all of theinformation announced at once, rather than piece by piece. But that could just be people marshalling facts to fit the situation, and not really why it is happening.

The funny thing about the Big East rumors is that they are the total invert of the Big XII rumors.



With the Big XII, we had little to no BYU acknowledgement that there were negotiations, much less a forthcoming offer. Yet there were a lot of outside voices claiming that the deal was all but wrapped up.



With the Big East, we've had official BYU acknowledgement of meetings between the Big East and the university, but it seems like aside from speculation, there's been a lot of radio silence from the BYU rumor department (at least the channels I follow).



I'm not sure that difference means much, however. Maybe BYU learned its fans and boosters like to be kept in the loop, and BYU fans are a little more wary of their inside sources.

Dcr36 wrote:
The funny thing about the Big East rumors is that they are the total invert of the Big XII rumors.



With the Big XII, we had little to no BYU acknowledgement that there were negotiations, much less a forthcoming offer. Yet there were a lot of outside voices claiming that the deal was all but wrapped up.



With the Big East, we've had official BYU acknowledgement of meetings between the Big East and the university, but it seems like aside from speculation, there's been a lot of radio silence from the BYU rumor department (at least the channels I follow).



I'm not sure that difference means much, however. Maybe BYU learned its fans and boosters like to be kept in the loop, and BYU fans are a little more wary of their inside sources.

Or maybe Big 12 stuff really wasn't as close/far along as we thought?

It would be a step up but i hope that we keep our espn deal and that we make sure we lock down at least two california games each year. i would actually like to have sdsu in the conference with us. i enjoy kicking the crap out of them on a yearly basis and i think we need to make sure we keep a connection to the west coast for recruiting.

If this happens it tells me that BYU was never seriously considered by the Big12. It was merely a show put on by the conference to placate certain members and make them look proactive.

Devbo wrote:

The funny thing about the Big East rumors is that they are the total invert of the Big XII rumors.



With the Big XII, we had little to no BYU acknowledgement that there were negotiations, much less a forthcoming offer. Yet there were a lot of outside voices claiming that the deal was all but wrapped up.



With the Big East, we've had official BYU acknowledgement of meetings between the Big East and the university, but it seems like aside from speculation, there's been a lot of radio silence from the BYU rumor department (at least the channels I follow).



I'm not sure that difference means much, however. Maybe BYU learned its fans and boosters like to be kept in the loop, and BYU fans are a little more wary of their inside sources.

Or maybe Big 12 stuff really wasn't as close/far along as we thought?

You could be right, but I'm pretty sure the Big XII stuff got at least as far as negotiations. The local newspapers reported there had been contact between BYU and the conference. It's not the same as an official BYU acknowledgement, but I trust that more than a twitter account.



I like the Big East if it keeps its autobid, like everyone else has said. It's like the MWC, but with the MWC's two biggest problems remedied - it's got better TV exposure, and the bottom half of the conference is a lot better than the MWC's bottom half. There was nothing wrong with a conference with TCU, Utah, BYU, AFA and/or BSU - the problem was UNLV, CSU, UNM and so forth. Rutgers, SMU, AFA, etc. make a better bottom 1/2 of the conference, and more importantly, I don't feel they're DOOMED to be cellar-dwellers - every team on that list has the potential to have good years.

Dcr36 wrote:

I like the Big East if it keeps its autobid, like everyone else has said. It's like the MWC, but with the MWC's two biggest problems remedied - it's got better TV exposure, and the bottom half of the conference is a lot better than the MWC's bottom half.

Great post. The Big East will not have SEC depth, or even B12/B10 depth, but it beats the crap out of the MWC depth, with better venues to travel to an play in. The upsides are better and the downsides are fewer.



I suspect the WAC goes away and gets absorbed by the MWC soon.



Jay Drew is on board now as well wit this rumor. Comes down to TV.

Wow, lawboy - way to go getting the jump on Jay Drew! ;)

Lawboy wrote:
Not saying I am 100% certain, but am hearing rumblings, and not from any twitter source.

How can they be a real source if they're not on twitter? ;)



thanks for the update. Naturally if we get "everything we could hope for", we'd take the deal. Also, when you list out the states where we'd be playing regularly, hard not to like all those fertile recruiting beds. I think key details like that get lost when you simply list the school name.



I'm curious when you say fewer mouths to feed. Does that mean we join a conference, but get no conference revenue? That sounds like a mess of a TV deal and i don't see how (other than survival of the conference) the TV partners would accept it. But I think you're right it would have to be a necessity since the last rumors I heard, our share of the BEAST TV revenues would be less than our current ESPN deal.

I'd set up the divisions according to rivalries

Division A

UCF / USF

Louisville / Cincinnati

Rutgers / UConn

Division B

BYU / Boise State

SMU / Houston

Air Force / Navy



I'm not against UCF in the "west", as it would give the western schools FL recruiting exposure.

Any chance we leverage this into a Big 12 offer? I like the looks of this but if the admin is somehow sold on stability in the Big 12 then maybe we make one last attempt.

mizzoucoug wrote:
Any chance we leverage this into a Big 12 offer? I like the looks of this but if the admin is somehow sold on stability in the Big 12 then maybe we make one last attempt.

it seems to me that even if we accept big east invite the big 12 will still be an option given the fact that we likely don't join for at least a year, maybe 2.