2012 to 2020 Football Schedule Announcement

I was wondering what everyone out there is thinking about the upcoming future football schedule announcement.



I do not claim to know more than anyone else on the topic. I read on cougarblue.com that ESPN has built into all future BYU game contracts certain parameters as to how and when future games are announced.



First Question: Is this true?



I think so simply because of the evidence to support it. Holmoe stated back in May that 3/4 of the games through 2014 are done, yet we have not heard one squeak from reliable sources (i.e. other schools, AD's, etc) as to who is playing us. Holmoe said that there are many guesses, and with all the guesses some are going to be correct guesses.



Second Question: What guesses are correct? (obviously we will have to wait for answers to this one)



Third Question: What is ESPN waiting for?



I am left to conclude that ESPN obviously has some sort of public and possibly televised announcement planned, with the intent to show world "look at what ESPN can do for your university."



The last group of questions bouncing around my head are:

How are they going to make the announcement(s)? on TV? at a press conference? Are they going to do some sort of TV event like Holmoe did on BYUtv when they announced the finalized the 2011 schedule? If they are going to do it on TV, why? no other school has ever had a scheduling announcement televised on a major network. is this something ESPN is going to do going forward in order to help build hype for each season - not to mention give us football junkies something more to look forward to in the offseason?



When are they going to announce it? Are they going to announce the 2012 through 2020 schedule all at once? Or are they going to announce it the week before College Football kicks off? perhaps they will only announce the 2012 schedule this year and 2013 in 2012 and so on...



What do you guys/gals think on the matter? I know there are some better ideas out there.

I think we'll hear games as they're finalized.

SpiffCoug wrote:
I think we'll hear games as they're finalized.

But that clearly has not been the case. Games ARE finalized - Holmoe said so himself, but still there is no announcement.

DesertCougar wrote:

I think we'll hear games as they're finalized.

But that clearly has not been the case. Games ARE finalized - Holmoe said so himself, but still there is no announcement.

Does it really matter right now? I'm not making plans to attend the 2012 games yet. We know most of the opponents, just not dates and times. I imagine we'll hear the final dates for each year in March or April of that year. Pretty much like every other year.

I think it matters. I think fans want to know, recruits want to know, and our rival/opponents want to know. I lived in Texas for a while and several Longhorns fans have asked me what I know, because there seems to be speculation of Texas going indy in the next few years. They'd like to know what ESPN can do for BYU. Not to mention that there is not enough BYU news right now. I am bored out of my gourd!

If Independence works for BYU, Texas will be the next team to do it. They already have an independent contract with ESPN, apart from the BigXII, and are trying to start their own Network. Oklahoma could follow, but not as soon.



The only other schools that I see having the resources and possible desire would be Miami and Florida State.



I would look for the SEC, Big 10 and Pac-10 teams to all stay put because of the strength in their conferences' television contracts and history (with the possible exception of Penn State and maybe Nebraska), and the Big East because they are all too weak to do anything on their own.



Now if some of those bigger name teams decide to go independent, they could affiliate with each other and provide some big time showdowns in October and November and kind of collectively bargain for greater access to bowl games. A loose affiliation among BYU, Texas, Oklahoma, ND, FSU, Miami, and even Navy and Army could be very beneficial to all involved.

I believe that Holmoe mentioned that they have games lined up but some of them have minor details to iron out before announcements are made. I think pretty much we will hear when a team is under contract to play us and what year. I don't think we will have specific dates until closer to the year they play.



There was some speculation that BYU wanted to release some scheduling news that they were holding back right before junior day to make a splash as recruits were about to come in. I guess that theory was wrong.

The PR department doesn't want to have to backtrack if some detail derails a deal. Nobody wants to deal with the bad press of having a deal not work out. Especially when the other party is especially concerned about its image and the impact playing BYU (or not) may have on its reputation.

One thing that came to mind that I had thought of, have we ever had seven home games before? It's a shame that the highlight of this seven game home season are Utah and Central Florida and they are early in the season, but it is nice to have them finally increase those home contests as many power teams have.

Has anyone heard that the 2012 schedule is done? There are three more games that need to be added. I heard that it is done, but I am not sure if it is "done" as in some contractual details need to be hammered out or if it is done-done, and we are just waiting for an announcement. I cannot imagine it to be too difficult to hammer a contract out with a D-II team, so I am hopeful that the final games are big names since it is not official yet.



Also, I just compared all the Indys' schedules and I think BYU's schedule already looks a lot more like ND's than Army or Navy's. The latter two play almost no team's from BCS conferences. I guess I have never looked at their typical schedules before, but after taking a look I am a bit surprised. I guess I always assumed they played a better SOS. I sure hope that when the last three opponents are announced for 2012 that our schedule will look more like ND's than the other two Indy's.

CAFB_04-12 wrote:
The PR department doesn't want to have to backtrack if some detail derails a deal. Nobody wants to deal with the bad press of having a deal not work out. Especially when the other party is especially concerned about its image and the impact playing BYU (or not) may have on its reputation.

That is a really good point...if things change it could be bad PR.

BYU does have deals done with a number of teams, but the deal is merely to play x games from years 201x to 201x.



Not only do some of the deals not have years (for example---we all know that ND is returning to BYU at some point, but that year has not been finalized yet), but then the contracts to play in 2012 etc. aren't finalized either because the contract is to play on any one of two or three given weekends depending on what the two teams do in the interim with scheduling.



Deals are done, but dates aren't buttoned down. I'd prefer they wait and give us iron-clad dates rather than put us through the "are-they-or-aren't-they" game that's been happening with the Notre Dame deal.

stuckinbig10country wrote:



Now if some of those bigger name teams decide to go independent, they could affiliate with each other and provide some big time showdowns in October and November and kind of collectively bargain for greater access to bowl games. A loose affiliation among BYU, Texas, Oklahoma, ND, FSU, Miami, and even Navy and Army could be very beneficial to all involved.

this is what needs to happen.

snoscythe wrote:
BYU does have deals done with a number of teams, but the deal is merely to play x games from years 201x to 201x.



Not only do some of the deals not have years (for example---we all know that ND is returning to BYU at some point, but that year has not been finalized yet), but then the contracts to play in 2012 etc. aren't finalized either because the contract is to play on any one of two or three given weekends depending on what the two teams do in the interim with scheduling.



Deals are done, but dates aren't buttoned down. I'd prefer they wait and give us iron-clad dates rather than put us through the "are-they-or-aren't-they" game that's been happening with the Notre Dame deal.

I think you are right, but I think the edge for recruiting of knowing who we are playing (assuming they are teams that would help with recruiting) outweighs the benefit of announcing before dates are set.

DesertCougar wrote:
I read on cougarblue.com...

Wait. cougarblue.com is still around?

jonnylingo wrote:

BYU does have deals done with a number of teams, but the deal is merely to play x games from years 201x to 201x.



Not only do some of the deals not have years (for example---we all know that ND is returning to BYU at some point, but that year has not been finalized yet), but then the contracts to play in 2012 etc. aren't finalized either because the contract is to play on any one of two or three given weekends depending on what the two teams do in the interim with scheduling.



Deals are done, but dates aren't buttoned down. I'd prefer they wait and give us iron-clad dates rather than put us through the "are-they-or-aren't-they" game that's been happening with the Notre Dame deal.

I think you are right, but I think the edge for recruiting of knowing who we are playing (assuming they are teams that would help with recruiting) outweighs the benefit of announcing before dates are set.

I totally agree with you JL. Excitement and anticipation sells. If they know they get a shot at a Texas, USC, Ohio State, Michgan, Penn State, Florida, ND or Alabama or teams of that caliber at least once or twice a year along with other 7-8 average BCS teams, I think that is a huge selling point to recruits. I also think the venue plays a role. Knowing you are going to play on prime time in an NFL stadium has to be pretty cool...