BCS, MWC and Conference Realignment

This is my bottom line feeling with the MWC and conference realignment: You never know how your target is going to change, so worry less about that and worry more about just being the best you can be.



For a decade a BCS auto-bid was the end all be all. And yet, like a mirage in the desert, as soon as you got close it changed or disappeared. I think deep down we all knew that like Lucy with the football, the BCS would just change the game if the MWC ever got close. First they didn't want people to know the formula for getting a BCS auto-bid (probably because there was none), and finally they gave most of it out, but as soon as the MWC got close then they poached a few teams and reduced the MWC to the new WAC.



But then you also see it with the Big East. After being plundered of their best teams the Big East was left to die by the bigger BCS conferences. But they held onto an auto-bid, just not relevance. Then another round of raiding and out of desperation they reach across the country for Boise State and San Diego State.



And Boise State and San Diego State fell into the trap as well. They abandoned rivalries and regional matchups for a coast to coast conference for the sake of a BCS auto-bid and probably some TV dollars, but before they can even play in the Big East it looks like the Auto-bids will be gone. Now they have tons of travel for football to face marginally better opponents and their other sports are stuck in the WAC (assuming it survives) and the Big West.



Instead of chasing a moving target I think the MWC would have been better served to simply try to make the best western conference they could. You can have all sorts of arguments about whether different schools, such as Fresno State, Houston, SMU, Nevada... would have been good additions, but I don't see how the best mountain west conference could not have included Boise State with their two BCS wins and perennial Top 25 and even top ten finishes.



Making the MWC the best conference it could have been clearly should have included Boise State and who knows what could have happened had they made the invite as many as 4 years earlier.



As for now, let this be a lesson to BYU. Don't chase the mirage. With the elimination of auto-bids I am so happy BYU is not in the Big East. They would have lost their flexible scheduling, lost their exclusive TV deal, and still would not have gained BCS access.

This is why BYU moving to independence was a smart move. BYU has complete freedom of movement. Once the dust finally settles of conference realignment, they'll be poised to make moves that benefit them most and won't be hamstrung by conference affilations that can no longer provide as initially intended.

SpiffCoug wrote:
This is why BYU moving to independence was a smart move. BYU has complete freedom of movement. Once the dust finally settles of conference realignment, they'll be poised to make moves that benefit them most and won't be hamstrung by conference affilations that can no longer provide as initially intended.

I think Independence is a great move. If/when conference invites come I think they also need to consider current conditions and possible future conditions.



I think that is what happened with the Big East invite.

If the BCS stays the same BYU plays a bunch of east coast teams, loses its exclusive TV deal, can't have the same varied schedule, but they get the chance at an auto-bid each year.



If the BCS changes the plays a bunch of east coast teams, loses its exclusive TV deal, can't have the same varied schedule, but still doesn't have BCS access.



Too big of a down side.

Big East will not get $7M/per for football. Not gonna happen. Not after they lost Cuse and Pitt, TCU and WVU. No way, no how. And not with adding some of the teams they did just to get to 12. They watered down their overall value that way. But if they do get close to that it, it will be with Comcast, not ESPN, so enjoy that.



Willing to get comes in closer to $4.5M/per. Which I think the MWC could get if they could lure BSU/SDSU back.

Mars wrote:


Boise and SDSU go from about $1MM a year in the MWC to, supposedly, about $7MM a year in the Big east. The auto-bid counts for nothing in respect to that financial fact. You know, once it becomes official.

Maybe I am the odd one out here, but were I a fan of Boise State I don't think I would be willing to join the Big East for $3.5 million per year (using the number you later list) Were I an aztec fan...are there aztec fans?



First off, how much of that gets eaten up by travel expenses? You are going to be flying across the country for most of your conference games and that can't be cheap. Plus you have basically ruled out the road trip to away games for your fans. Maybe this bothers me because I am a BYU fan in the Seattle area and away games are just about my only shot to watch in person. Were BYU in the Big East they might as well be playing in China. And it isn't even like the Big East has too many of their games televised either.



I can understand selling out your regional rivals. Honestly I can't blame Utah because they got a huge pay day, and their new conference mates still make some geographic sense, but I for one would hate to see BYU join the Big East. Heck, I'd hate to see them join the SEC. I love how with independence there will be a game or two in the midwest and east, but the rest are spattered around the west. So no matter where you live in the Mountain or Pacific time zone you are pretty much guaranteed to have a game near you ever few years.



But BYU's fan base is different from most.