This morning I became a decidedly "BYU to the AAC" Proponent

If the AAC will accept us.

My thought process is this:



1. I've been a proponent of independence because of the ESPN contract, the perceived "better than G5" status, better exposure, and BYUTV, but



2. the benefits of independence are lost when BYU loses not one or two games a season but three or more, which is what BYU has done every year since becoming independent.



3. Another factor is that we are a religious-centered institution with standards, both academic and moral, that will not appeal to the vast majority of athletes needed to win at the highest level. Since we are not winning at the highest level, more and more athletes willing to live those standards are going to schools who don't require those standards, whether academic or moral or both.



4. Are we better than many P5 schools? Sure, but so are many G5 schools. Life isn't fair.



5. Can we win the occassional game against P5 schools? Wisconsin gives the obvious answer. But lose the past two games as BYU has and the season has ended for many fans.



6. It doesn't matter whether the coach has been Bronco or Kalani, the losses have come and the emotional investment has ended well before the season has ended.



7. The AAC has a decent ESPN contract with a championship worth playing for even after losses. In addition, the AAC has a better chance than the MWC of becoming a power conference.



8. In my opinion, if the AAC would accept us and if BYUTV could still broadcast or rebroadcast games as it presently does, then the AAC is the best option for BYU football.

Don't hold your breath that the AAC will become a power conference. In fact, once the TV contracts are up in a few years, who knows what the college football landscspe will look like. The number of power conference could actually shrink, with conferences cannibalizing others, and growing to 16 teams.

KingCoug wrote:

Don't hold your breath that the AAC will become a power conference. In fact, once the TV contracts are up in a few years, who knows what the college football landscspe will look like. The number of power conference could actually shrink, with conferences cannibalizing others, and growing to 16 teams.

I can agree with that, and so I was being optimistic about BYU's future. If P5 becomes P4 and only 64 teams are included, I don't see BYU being one of the chosen ones. BYU's irrelevance grows even more.