Which BYU Conference Affiliation Would You Prefer?

If you were King and could make anything you wanted happen, which conference affiliation would you CHOOSE so that we can quit feeling STUCK.

I am undecided for the moment. I am weighing our ability to compete (which would push me to Indy, Big Country, or BEAST WEST in that order assuming we schedule smartly) vs UTE and BCS Envy (which would push me to PAC 12 and Big 12 and BEAST WEST in that order) - first two tied - but since I will likley retire in So. Cal and already like some of the mini rivalries we have there - I am Biased.

If we had complete power to declare our contract, big 12. In our current situation than Independence. I want to be where we can have the most control of our own destiney and goals.

Big XII. Great traditions, great fans, great football.

Assume that we just have BOT authority - not God like authority. So we can get BOT to accept what each conference would offer - but you can assume enough God Like power to get any of them to offer us what they offer their other members. Assume TV concessions except for Indy, but assume they all grant us our Sabath Day off.



Be sure to explain your choices.



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Schmoe wrote:
Big XII. Great traditions, great fans, great football.

. . . Great recruiting territory, great match-ups, great chance for me to get to more games.

We're on the western side of the Rockies. I like regional conferences and therefore I'd have to pick PAC12. It's where most of our fans are.



In truth, it's hard to pick between the bigoted Bible belt folks vs the left-wing liberals. Both groups would claim we're owned by a cult.

OK - that Ute loss to Colorado somehow pushed me off the ledge - I changed my vote to PAC 12. It is the regional thing - really. and I think we could rise up and compete reasonably well in the PAC. And it would be funny to see UCLA, USC, ASU, and AZ coming for a late night game on a very cold November or December night - maye even with snow and ice - at altitude. And then of course - keeps the Utah rivalry going in a very meaningful way.

EM_Puma wrote:

In truth, it's hard to pick between the bigoted Bible belt folks vs the left-wing liberals. Both groups would claim we're owned by a cult.

Having lived on the left coast and in the Bible belt, I think we have a better chance of making inroads with the "Bible belt folks," especially as the morality of our country erodes.

From my experiences, the Big XII fans are much more gracious, hospitable, and friendly, even if they do think we're a cult.

Big 12. I have wanted the big 12 since I heard that they wanted BYU back in 96 but politics got baylor in and kept BYU in the wac.

Big 12 has better teams & would be great, but PAC is still my ideal. Fan geography.



Plus there's an outside chance Oklahoma and/or Texas leave the Big 12. I can't see USC or Oregon leaving the PAC.

Schmoe wrote:
From my experiences, the Big XII fans are much more gracious, hospitable, and friendly, even if they do think we're a cult.

The west coast fans are ungracious, inhospitable, and unfriendly AND they think we're a cult.

BerliNY wrote:

From my experiences, the Big XII fans are much more gracious, hospitable, and friendly, even if they do think we're a cult.

The west coast fans are ungracious, inhospitable, and unfriendly AND they think we're a cult.

No, those are PAC12 fans not West Coast fans. So far West Coast fans have been quite welcoming, gracious and friendly.

BYU is best served by independence, now, tomorrow and forever.



Historically, BYU has not fared real well against Big-12 teams. Although BYU did well in the MWC, it would be a middle of the pack team in the Big-12. BYU is not yet capable of beating Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech on a consistent basis. It's naive for BYU fans to get all ga ga over the Big-12, we'd probably go 5 years without being in a bowl, not to mention a BCS bowl, and ten years before we'd win the conference.



Arizona and Arizona State joined the Pac-12 years ago, but neither team has dominated the conference, and have they ever gone to the Rose Bowl? or a BCS bowl?



Conference affiliation compromises several of BYU's foundational principles; 1) no sunday games, 2) home game TV rights, 3) national exposure, etc. Independence assures all of BYU's principles are well served.



BYU fans would become vultures towards the coaches if they went 5 years without a bowl game, or 10 years without a conference championship, or never reached a BCS bowl. I believe a strong winning season, a bowl game, national TV exposure, and and happy fans are far more important than being a member of some supposed privileged conference. Would BYU fans swap places with Utah right now? I didn't think so.

We competed with Texas this year, we competed with OK two years ago, we've done very well against the Big XII as of late. What, other than Heaps being QB for a time, would indicate to you that we can't compete? The Max Hall and John Beck teams would have finished very well in the Big XII.

Pac12. No question for me. I enjoy watching pac12 teams more than big12 teams. the big12 drama queens are more than i can handle.

StatsCougar wrote:
If we had complete power to declare our contract, big 12. In our current situation than Independence. I want to be where we can have the most control of our own destiny and goals.

Not to mention that, now, we have an ESPN and BYUtv deal, we won't go anywhere that we lose them, even for the first year. We're going to declare our university goals and purposes.

Schmoe wrote:
We competed with Texas this year, we competed with OK two years ago, we've done very well against the Big XII as of late. What, other than Heaps being QB for a time, would indicate to you that we can't compete? The Max Hall and John Beck teams would have finished very well in the Big XII.

Those two OK and Texas teams were in rebuild mode. Okie had a tight end converted to center with zip experience. They were out of synch even before we knocked out there QB - and one of our best teams squeaked past them by 1 point.



Texas rolled over without a QB but eventually came back with a couple of freshmen QBs and a freshman receiver to beat us in a year where they are .500 in BIG 12 conference games.



If we had a Sr. QB every year with NFL draft skills and experienced TE, WR, and RB with our best talent ever - we could compete with Texas and Okie in rebuilding years - maybe beat Texas instead of almost beating them.



The real challenge would be 12 weeks of playing big physical opponents. Depth issues would surface as U of U depth issues did in PAC.



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Either the Big East, Big XII or start a new conference where ESPN call the shots on our TV deal. I like the ESPN TV deal, but do not like Independence as much as playing in a conference. Instead of helping us land indy one-and-done opponents, I wouldn't mind them pulling some strings to get some quality teams on board in a real league.



Maybe once the ACC and Big Ten fully decimate the Big East, we can use what's left of all the good non-AQ teams to make a power league of upstarts.