Big Man on Campus

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705372783/BYU-Utah-Utes-proved-to-be-big-dogs-of-MWC-with-numerous-titles.html?s_cid=rss-28&source=rss_teams_Brigham_Young_Cougars" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Very insightful article and why probably the MWC members didn't do more to stop BYU from leaving, if they actually could have done anything. Our departure will create an unprecedented vacuum.



The two noted comments I enjoyed the most were:



Final toll was BYU 140 vs. Utah 49 as far as championship trophies

and

"BYU won more championships last week (three) than Wyoming (2) has in all its MWC existence."



I can't imagine how a coach in the MWC would ever miss having to compete with BYU in the sports that we have just completely dominated year-in and year-out. Sometimes it's just tough to be the best as jealousies prevail.

Most of these sports are non-revenue, so they do not even enter the discussion most of the time. Might be a source of school pride, but that is it for an AD, who has a budget to run. $$$ drives the train, so it is football #1, hoops #2, the rest after. The MWC did nothing because their damn TV deal was owned by Comcast, not the MWC, so they were in a position where they could not act without Comcast ok'ing it. BYU saw that, hated it, and that is a huge reason why BYU is now indy. BYU is in charge of its product.



Even Utah, for all the $$$ they make in the PAC-12 has no control over their product even on the local levels. Utah got shafted by ESPN in the 2011 season, and will be on lower tier networks, because that is the league deal they signed up for. They get a a higher profile through conference affiliation, more $$, but not necessarily a higher profile on TV because they will be buried, unless they win big. And as I put Utah on the level with ASU, I say it happens once every decade for them. hope they enjoy Versus this year and FX starting in 2012, because that is where most home games will end up.

Lawboy wrote:
Utah got shafted by ESPN in the 2011 season, and will be on lower tier networks, because that is the league deal they signed up for.

That's what happens when a good company knows you are a sell-out, knows that their rival is their own sweet investment and prefer them to succeed, and know that #s of fans and championships drive revenue and interest. Not liberal opinions and mullets.

Most of Utah's home games will be on a local station this year and the Pac-12 Network most years after that. They will not be the versus/fx teams. Look for most of those games (especially on fx) to be Oregon St, Cal, and the Arizona schools for their games that are not picked up on ESPN.