Could BYU sign a BCS contract if . .

they went Independent ?



BYU will likely be left out in the cold during this conference re-alignment period. Without getting too detailed, I've had a few email replies from BXII conference commish Beebe and the Sunday rule will not change. Therefore, if CU and Utah go to the P10, TCU will probably leave for the B12 over BYU. Even if the MWC snags Boise, the MWC train is still de-railed.



So, BYU has a very prestigious reputation. If BYU went Indy in football only, (stayed in the MWC with other sports) perhaps they could sign a contract with the BCS that if they finished in the top 10 they'd receive an AQ bid. For this to happen, BYU would need a really tough, BCS caliber, annual schedule. Who could those teams include ?



1) Utah (P10)

2) Utah State (a must for general conference weekends)

3) Boise State (BSU would love to sign an annual agreement.

4) Colorado State (has history and close proximity)

5) TCU (already has become a good series)

6) West Virginia (BE already is viewed as weak, and if Pitt leaves even weaker. But BYU must do what ND does, play nationwide and against solid BCS teams. WV has great tradition and will want a good OOC annual game.)

7) UCLA (USC & Standford both have annual games w/ ND, UCLA might be open for something similar, if not try UA or ASU.

8 ) Houston (decent team, but more importantly keep BYU in Texas media/market

9) Air Force (heck if BYU went Indy and played AFA, AFA will likley be Indy also)

10 & 11) schedule the typical OOC 1 and 1 series like we do now (Florida St, Washington, Boston College, etc. )



BYU could also secure bowl affiliations if they finished with a winning record and got excluded from the BCS, Vegas and Poinsettia bowl would love to be BYU's fallback.

pretty sure if you leave MWC in one sport, you leave in all. No, choosing which sports you want in and which ones you want out. Someone Correct me if I'm wrong.

nogbody wrote:
pretty sure if you leave MWC in one sport, you leave in all. No, choosing which sports you want in and which ones you want out. Someone Correct me if I'm wrong.

It's unknown territory, a whole new contract would have to be drawn up and all new negotiations would have to be made. It really doesn't matter, though, because we just don't get the respect to get an independent contract with the BCS, only the most overrated teams have that privilege.

Mars wrote:

pretty sure if you leave MWC in one sport, you leave in all. No, choosing which sports you want in and which ones you want out. Someone Correct me if I'm wrong.

True.

Better answer is CURRENTLY true. I'm confident if TCU and Utah left the MWC, the MWC would do anything to retain BYU athletics. BYU BBall would still be highly desired for MWC play. I'd bet the MWC would seriously consider making changes to the requirments for MWC membership under such circumstances.

The MWC will not under any circumstances change to allow BYU to remain in the conference without football. If BYU goes indy in football, the rest would probably end up in the Big West. So, they'll lose money.



So, now BYU wouldn't have a TV contract that pays them enough money to keep things afloat, and then the sports program will be gone.



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Karl Benson has already said that the WAC would take the other BYU sports if BYU fball went independent.

Well, IF all this happens, here's another thought. BYU stays in the depleted MWC (say 6-7 team conference now), but that opens up 5-6 game schedule OOC. So they could play what's left of the MWC, but schedule ND, Houston, FSU, UCLA, and actually end up with a stronger schedule than they have now. The big question is, if the MWC gets raided, do they lose their bowl tieins. And if the tieins go away, BYU might have to negotiate it's own bowl deal--that might not be all bad either. Somehow, I can't see any conference going along with this idea though.



On the other hand, I've said for years that BYU should go independent, it makes scheduling more difficult, but we can chart our own course and not worry about conference rules, and conferences that play on Sunday; we just schedule our games to suit us, and maybe make our own TV deal as well.

The issue with BYU going Independent is travel costs. If they could get in the MWC or WAC for all other sports, it might be worth it. If not, not sure it is because costs go up drastically for travel. Also, your team no longer has a conference title to play for, and that does matter. It is BCS or Bust. Not sure I like that. I value winning a conference and having that banner to show a winning tradition. Going 9-3 or 10-2 with No BCS is fine and all, but the bowl will probably stink and and you have no banner at years end. And let's no kid ourselves. BYU is not ND and does not have ND reputation, base of supporters for TV sets nationally or National titles. We are not the same. I think it a poor idea all the way around.

Easy answer is no. Not in a million years.

bball wrote:
I've said for years that BYU should go independent, it makes scheduling more difficult, but...

Sounds like athletic suicide to me.

BYU going independant would be the death of BYU sports. BYU is not ND who can get a contract with NBC negating the need for conference money. BYU can't even get the BCS big boys to man up and play us at LES now, how do we expect them to come out and play us every year if we were an independant.