Jay Drew: Independence is Still on Tap

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/50185374-77/byu-wac-mwc-football.html.csp?page=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Doesn't sound like things are going to calm down until either an announcement or a deadline passes.



The juice of the story is this: after the BOT meeting last week, President Samuelson was given the green light....to do whatever he thinks best. That's huge, but doesn't shed any additional light on how things are going to pan out.

Another BYU source who is not directly involved in the negotiations said talk floating around the athletic department is that prospects for the school remaining in the MWC are slim.



“Looks like the WAC or the one out West [WCC],” the source said.

I thought this quote was the latest and greatest. Got to love how prestigious the WCC is that Drew's source can't even remember the name!



Other than that, I think it's clear that the MWC doesn't like to negotiate and thinks its chances are good BYU will come back. I think there's some truth to that, given the dearth of viable options, but it doesn't answer BYU's undervaluation problem nor Hair's shenanigans in ripping the WAC apart(lying and BYU slander aside of course).

snoscythe wrote:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/50185374-77/byu-wac-mwc-football.html.csp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.staradvertiser.com/sports/sportsnews/20100830_Fleeing_members_foiled_conferences_big_plans.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



What I learned from these articles...



THIS WAC (9 teams) is worth $500K per team to ESPN:

Boise State

Fresno State

Nevada

Hawaii

Utah State

NMSU

Idaho

SJSU

Louisiana Tech



THIS WAC (14 teams, 11 full football members) is worth $2MM per team to ESPN:

BYU (football partnership)

Gonzaga (non-football)

St. Mary's or Denver or Seattle or Pacific (non-football)

UTEP

UNLV

SDSU

Boise State

Fresno State

Nevada

Hawaii

Utah State

NMSU

Idaho

SJSU



So... BSU isn't worth very much, but BYU brings a ton of value...





The WAC is now looking at THIS line-up (12 team, 9 full football members):

BYU (football partnership)

Gonzaga (non-football)

St. Mary's or Denver or Seattle or Pacific (non-football)

Houston

SMU

UTEP

Hawaii

Utah State

NMSU

Idaho

SJSU

Louisiana Tech