Do you have Conference Envy?

I listened to the Rise & Shout podcast (on iTunes) and Adam Mangum shared some thoughts from his blog post on LoyalCougars.com (I swear I am not affiliated with the website or podcast, but I always like hearing about new Cougar sites and podcasts (especially since CougarCorner hasn't put out a podcast since June 20th)).



Anyway...Adam wrote about having Conference Envy of Utah being in the Pac 12, how for years he has been playing EA Sports NCAA Football (I'm not affiliated with them either) for years and his goal was always to get BYU into a good conference and win National Championships. Utah has achieved the first and it looks rather unlikely that BYU will ever get a BCS conference invite.



On the podcast his brother Matt disagreed and says he has no conference envy, and I have to agree with him, but I want to know what you guys think too.



I think it is safe to say that BYU will never get an invite to the Pac 12. We could still get an invite from the Big 12(10) but I am not even sure I would like that. You know we would end up in the north which would mean trips to Ames, IA, Lawrence and Manhattan, KS, and Columbia, MO (at least for now, although they certainly want into the Big Ten (12)). The other BCS conferences are too far away to be interesting to me.



Personally I think I would have preferred getting a Pac 12 invite, because it would feel like validation of the program. But if I approach the issue with more maturity I have to say that we already have validation.



I don't think Utah survives as an independent. Which schools could? Not many. And as I posted a few weeks ago, when I went to buy my tickets for the Oregon State game I saw that OSU is charging $15 more per ticket for the BYU game than the Arizona, UCLA and Stanford games, even though Provo is as far from OSU as UCLA is. OSU knows BYU brings a crowd, more so than those schools and I would guess they draw more than Colorado, Utah, ASU and Cal too.



BYU's politics or geography may not fit with the BCS conferences, but there is no question about BYU's value is a fit.

No MWC envy, but I do have a little BCS envy. But only because I like the home football schedule that those conferences give. I do like Utah's home schedule this year, I Will like it next year, and I am waiting to see how Indy shakes out schedule wise. If it means great road schedules, and poor home schedules, not going to love it as much as I want to. BYU Needs to get great and good teams to come to Provo, and a BCS conference offers that.

Living in Big XII country, it would be nice to be a serious contender here every year (a'la Texas and Oklahoma), but I'd say if I had envy it would be Notre Dame envy. All games on NBC no matter how bad you are, and all you have to do to get into the BCS bowl is to finish top 16 (or whatever it is).



I've never envied the Pac-12. SEC fans are just too despicable to be envied... :)

I had to respond yes. I am not envious of the Utes specifically, just BCS conference teams in general. They all have nice home schedules each and every year.

I would trade being independent to be in the pac12 anyday.

As an out-of-stater, no, I do not envy anything associated with any conference at this point. I will be watching better quality broadcasts of better games this year than any year in recent memory. Granted all but one of the good match-ups is on the road for the Utah-resident faithful, but for those of us who have to travel to any game anyway, I see zero benefit to conference affiliation right now. Yeah, getting into the BCS is allegedly easier, but which do you honestly think is more likely---BYU is the top-ranked non-BCS team with an independent schedule in the top-12 and gets an auto-bid (or even if the #2 non-BCS team gets an at-large bid), or do you think it is more likely that BYU wins the Big XII or the Pac12 and gets an auto-bid that way? Personally, I think it is the former that provides the greatest opportunity for BCS access as we have more control over who and where we play, and I'd much rather bring down the BCS from the outside.



Conference affiliation would also stymie all of the new exposure we have--know of any conference TV deals that are giving teams 10 games on the ESPN networks, 8 of which are on ESPN or ESPN2?



For me, independent is the only way for BYU football to be going forward.

I think Tom Holmoe wants BYU in a BCS league. BCS >> Indy >>> MWC



"If we win, we’ll get noticed and we’ll earn people’s respect and people will take notice,” Holmoe said. “I think we belong in a BCS conference, but I’m not going to kick anybody out and we haven't been invited. There’s reasons we haven’t been invited.”



http://brett-mcmurphy.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/29532522/30594982" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Big XII will have their primary contract with ESPN expire in 2015, and if the Big XII expands, that will be the time. Until then, this Indy gig will be sweet.

jonnylingo,



Why the envy? Hear me out. If we can have a BCS-worthy schedule year in and year out, not only would I have no envy, but I would think that Utah or other past BYU rivals would be jealous. I see ND as one of the most prestigious football teams out there because they do have a great schedule with great rivalries and have a dedicated channel on TV. They have more freedom than anyone because of their prestige. We now have a dedicated channel on TV, and are working on the schedule, which is looking up.



Take 2013 for example. We are scheduled to play Texas, Notre Dame, Boise State, Georgia Tech and Hawaii. I am sure we will play Utah and Utah State each year. Add in a military academy, and one team from each of the other conferences (maybe 2 from the big east if you want to play 13 games in 2013) and you have a great schedule:



Utah

Texas

@ Hawaii

Boise State

@ Northwestern

@ Utah State

Georgia Tech

@ Clemson

Bye

Boston College

Navy

@ Notre Dame

Syracuse (Neutral Site)



I think that recruits that can handle the honor code would rather play for BYU with schedule like that on ESPN than the average BCS or even above average BCS team. Would you still be jealous if we could do that year in and year out? Or does the envy go beyond? The only thing that I think we are missing is a conference championship to play for. I would like to have that back somehow...

Interesting you add BC, Clemson, Navy and Cuse, when mostly likely, we will have more WAC schools, C-USA schools amd MWC schools in the future. Hoping we get the armed forces on schedule, but doubt it for a few years. Cuse is a possible, so is an ACC team. But expect a Houston or Tulsa, along with 2 other WAC schools most years.

It is hypothetical. I am wondering if BYU fans would still have some envy with a schedule like that.

There are pros and cons to being in a conference. You have more bowl tie-ins and there is a perception of your team that's associated with your conference (good for most BCS conferences, bad for most other conferences). I'm glad that we're not associated with the PAC who has been a conference of cheating officials and underachievement. Are there some conferences I wouldn't mind us joining? Sure, but even in the best conference you are associated with some lousy teams/programs. I'll take the freedom to play whomever we want and not having to deal with the ridiculousness of the MWC right now and be very happy about it.

DesertCougar wrote:
jonnylingo,



Why the envy? Hear me out. If we can have a BCS-worthy schedule year in and year out, not only would I have no envy, but I would think that Utah or other past BYU rivals would be jealous. I see ND as one of the most prestigious football teams out there because they do have a great schedule with great rivalries and have a dedicated channel on TV. They have more freedom than anyone because of their prestige. We now have a dedicated channel on TV, and are working on the schedule, which is looking up.



Take 2013 for example. We are scheduled to play Texas, Notre Dame, Boise State, Georgia Tech and Hawaii. I am sure we will play Utah and Utah State each year. Add in a military academy, and one team from each of the other conferences (maybe 2 from the big east if you want to play 13 games in 2013) and you have a great schedule:



Utah

Texas

@ Hawaii

Boise State

@ Northwestern

@ Utah State

Georgia Tech

@ Clemson

Bye

Boston College

Navy

@ Notre Dame

Syracuse (Neutral Site)



I think that recruits that can handle the honor code would rather play for BYU with schedule like that on ESPN than the average BCS or even above average BCS team. Would you still be jealous if we could do that year in and year out? Or does the envy go beyond? The only thing that I think we are missing is a conference championship to play for. I would like to have that back somehow...

Envy is a strong word. I don't envy Utah. I would prefer to be in the pac12. i like the pac12 teams and would enjoy developing a history with those teams.



I think that Independence has the potential to be much better than utah's gig. We have to win though and win a lot. It will also be hard to get bcs access even indefeated given the way the at large works. If we had a better bcs deal, like had to be top 5 or something I would take what we have over what utah has anyday.



Indy has more upside but more downside as well. Assuming what you say did happen with our schedule and assumign we win, indy will surely prove to be more valuable than being int the pac12. only time will tell though.



and by the way, i don't mind the patsy schedule with a few good teams. that formula worked very well for boise state and it could work even better for us. I think scheduling national powerhouses in 2 for 1s will give exposure but may hurt just as much as help if we lose those games.

I don't see any downside with BYU being in a major conference. Most major conferences have excellent tv packages but the additional benefit of quality bowl games and consistent access to quality competition in all sports is truly an upgrade over BYU's current situation.

How could I have conference envy when I will get to see my cougars play every week on tv without having to even subscribe to cable. I will be able to stream all the ESPN games and watch the other (2) on BYUTV. If I happen to have a problem and can't watch while the game is on, I get to see tape delayed later that night on BYUTV, all in HD. No envy here, ask a ute how many games he/she will get to see this year.

I grew up in LA and was an early USC fan, so from that perspective wish that the PAC10 had been tolerant enough to bring BYU in...but I'll certainly adapt.

I'd rather see BYU with one loss in the Army Bowl and make the BCS have problems and cause more problems for them and play a killer schedule than play the same boring teams every year. I can't wait until BYU is good enough to beat teams like Alabama, LSU, OSU, OU, Texas, Florida State, Vtech, WVU, Ole Miss, and ND every single time. If BYU makes it to a BCS game they will get so much money and will get to keep all of it instead of splitting it with 11 other parasite schools

mormonrasta wrote:
I don't see any downside with BYU being in a major conference. Most major conferences have excellent tv packages but the additional benefit of quality bowl games and consistent access to quality competition in all sports is truly an upgrade over BYU's current situation.

I agree... once BYU has lost 2 games eliminating it from hopes of a BCS bowl, what do fans have to look forward to? A CUSA team in the Armed Forces Bowl? The Poinsettia Bowl? The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl?



I'd rather be in the Cotton (vs. SEC #3), Alamo (vs. Pac 12 #2), Insight (vs. Big 10 #4), or Holiday Bowls (vs. Pac 12 #3). Those are the bowls that await the #2-5 finishers in the Big XII.



That said, with the new realignment among BCS conferences, I imagine the B1G and Pac 12 will get some better bowls and the Big XII will lose some. Does the Holiday Bowl really want the fourth pick of non-BCS-bound Big XII schools? If OU and UT both end up in the BCS, that would give the Holiday Bowl the #6 Big XII team--say, 6-6 Baylor or Iowa State--to play the team that just missed out on the Pac 12 championship game--e.g., 10-2 Oregon or Cal.



BYU really should lobby hard to get the Big XII's Holiday Bowl slot, or at least an agreement so that the Holiday Bowl picks between BYU or #5 Big XII.

I see the exposure as the big difference right now if BYU makes independence work I think other schools (Texas comes to mind) could try it and then the conferences could be done.As far as bowls 10-2 gets the same type bowl when BYU was in the MWC or Independent and they probably will still need to be undefeated to get to a BCS bowl so either way no big change there.My big concern is that they could end up scheduling tougher than they need to and even in a great season have 1-2 maybe 3 losses and be in a low to mid tier bowl.No conference envy yet but 3 or 4 two loss seasons in a row and maybe I will have it.Watching two loss BCS teams playing in a BCS bowl and us playing in the cheese bowl that may do it.

byu's non bcs bowls will get better in a few years once contracts are up. holiday bowl is a real possibility. i know someone on the board. they want byu. It makes sense. BYU helped make the Holiday Bowl what it is.

First of all, I have to laugh, because in my original post I commented on how CougarCorner hadn't put out a podcast, and later that same day their podcast came out, so make sure you give it a listen.



Back to conferences, I am a northwest guy and so I would have liked to see BYU in the Pac 12, but they obviously can't tolerate our religion and politics. As a sports package, BYU beats Utah and Colorado every day of the week (except Sunday, because we won't play).



But I now feel about the Pac 12 like I would about a hot chick who hates me because I'm LDS. That would make her a whole lot less hot to me. The Pac 12 is a lot less hot to me now.