D
Dcr36I've made the mistake of letting myself get caught up in realignment talk again. Even if you prefer to remain agnostic as to whether or not BYU has a pending offer from the Big East, or is in serious negotiations, this rumor already seems to have more substance than most of the Big XII stuff. Especially considering the outlets reporting it. So I'm back to rumor-monging.
Following the arguments here, on other forums, and on Twitter, I see people continually make arguments against both the Big East and Independence based on "long-term feasibility."
People in favor of the Big East feel that independence is a bad idea, long-term. It requires consistent winning to remain feasible from an exposure standpoint. We may be on the verge of another 10-win season and we're still not sure we're doing well enough to curry ESPN's favor. With more conferences going to 12 teams, we're going to see more post-September OOC lockouts, and most teams are only going to be playing 3 games out of conference. That will leave us with a very little slice of pie to draw from, schedule-wise. Worse, if the BCS goes super-conference, we're effectively a FCS school - ND will likely bolt to the Big Ten, no special provisions will be left for Indys (since it would probably be just us and maybe Army), and the fence around the super-conferences would probably be too high to pass through.
People opposed to the Big East feel that the Big East is a bad idea, long-term. It may have an AQ bid now, but what about after the deadline? Even worse, it's the least stable conference - if the Big XII wants to go back to 12, it's probably taking two of the BE schools, and if either the ACC or SEC want to go to 16, the Big East could be scrapped for parts there, too. The buyout tag could leave us handcuffed to a geographically implausible MWC clone. On top of that, the Big East may not be sexy enough for a decent TV deal - we could be looking at national obscurity all over again.
What's frustrating about these arguments is that they're both right. Pointing out that one option is a bad long-term decision does not make the other option more desirable.
BYU doesn't have a feasible long-term solution right now.
There's nothing terribly wrong with that, either. Most schools don't. If this realignment-overshadowed season has taught us anything, it's that the landscape of college football can change at any minute. Just 3 months ago, half of the Big XII, one of the finest conferences in football, thought they were being relegated to the MWC and C-USA. That danger could rear its head again at any moment - outside of the UTs, OUs, USCs and Bamas of the world, I don't think any school is 100% safe. You can't possibly make a decision for BYU's future based on what we know now.
My point is this: don't let your fears of where the Big East or Independence will leave BYU 10 years from now effect which way you lean. Neither step is likely a final solution - I think the Big East has a better chance of being a more stable home for BYU football, but the chance of the Big East falling apart one of these days is pretty decent. I think the smarter approach is to support the option that works best for BYU short-term, and recognize that, independence or Big East, we'll likely face more struggles up ahead if we hope to keep BYU football relevant.
Following the arguments here, on other forums, and on Twitter, I see people continually make arguments against both the Big East and Independence based on "long-term feasibility."
People in favor of the Big East feel that independence is a bad idea, long-term. It requires consistent winning to remain feasible from an exposure standpoint. We may be on the verge of another 10-win season and we're still not sure we're doing well enough to curry ESPN's favor. With more conferences going to 12 teams, we're going to see more post-September OOC lockouts, and most teams are only going to be playing 3 games out of conference. That will leave us with a very little slice of pie to draw from, schedule-wise. Worse, if the BCS goes super-conference, we're effectively a FCS school - ND will likely bolt to the Big Ten, no special provisions will be left for Indys (since it would probably be just us and maybe Army), and the fence around the super-conferences would probably be too high to pass through.
People opposed to the Big East feel that the Big East is a bad idea, long-term. It may have an AQ bid now, but what about after the deadline? Even worse, it's the least stable conference - if the Big XII wants to go back to 12, it's probably taking two of the BE schools, and if either the ACC or SEC want to go to 16, the Big East could be scrapped for parts there, too. The buyout tag could leave us handcuffed to a geographically implausible MWC clone. On top of that, the Big East may not be sexy enough for a decent TV deal - we could be looking at national obscurity all over again.
What's frustrating about these arguments is that they're both right. Pointing out that one option is a bad long-term decision does not make the other option more desirable.
BYU doesn't have a feasible long-term solution right now.
There's nothing terribly wrong with that, either. Most schools don't. If this realignment-overshadowed season has taught us anything, it's that the landscape of college football can change at any minute. Just 3 months ago, half of the Big XII, one of the finest conferences in football, thought they were being relegated to the MWC and C-USA. That danger could rear its head again at any moment - outside of the UTs, OUs, USCs and Bamas of the world, I don't think any school is 100% safe. You can't possibly make a decision for BYU's future based on what we know now.
My point is this: don't let your fears of where the Big East or Independence will leave BYU 10 years from now effect which way you lean. Neither step is likely a final solution - I think the Big East has a better chance of being a more stable home for BYU football, but the chance of the Big East falling apart one of these days is pretty decent. I think the smarter approach is to support the option that works best for BYU short-term, and recognize that, independence or Big East, we'll likely face more struggles up ahead if we hope to keep BYU football relevant.