Mandel's Mailbag

Has anyone been more negatively affected by the new playoff system than BYU? The ACC and SEC won't schedule the Cougars because they aren't considered a major program. But the playoff doesn't consider BYU to be part of the "Group of Five" that gets an automatic berth in a major bowl. So, BYU isn't a big program, but it's not a small one, either. How does that work?

-- Josh, Anchorage, Alaska



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I found his answer to be unsatisfying and incomplete. While he did concede that the move was good for BYU "at the time" he hinted that BYU would be better to be in the MWC now, because we'd have more games on ESPN than anyone else. For those keeping score at home, I have “More football games on ESPN than other conference mates” < << “every home game broadcast nationwide, and every home and most neutral court basketball games broadcast nationwide” PS it ain’t even close. Independence was way way better than we had it in 2010, and it remains much better than what the MWC and its substandard TV contract could offer now.