My Thoughts on Big 12

If BYU was offered a chance to join the conference and they turned it down, I see a huge fall out for athletics at BYU. Below are some random thoughts.



1. Donations to the athletic department will drop. Right now I think BYU gets enough donations to match what the University of Utah athletic budget, even when they start getting their full share of the PAC 10. I think that will change by BYU not joining a conference when they had the chance. Last year there wasn't an offer, so donations didn't drop significantly.



2. Scheduling will continue to be difficult and may even become harder. More of the BCS conferences will begin mandating that OOC games be played in the beginning of the season. Most BCS schools play 7 home games. BYU getting home and homes with these teams will continue to be few and far between.



3. Every problem facing the football program has a magnified effect on the rest of the sports at BYU.



4. If BYU doesn't move their basketball team to the Big 12 if given the opportunity, Rose will not stay. He will start to lose some recruiting battles (he's already lost one) to Utah. Also, with Pac-10 schools coming into the state every year, there will be increased recruiting attention paid by those other schools.



5. BYU can no longer claim that they are looking for increased exposure or that they are looking to compete at the highest levels. If an offer comes, and is then declined (if Big 12 agrees to no Sunday play for championships), they will have been offered more exposure and an opportunity to compete in the 2nd strongest BCS conference.



These are just a few of the ideas that have come to my mind. If an offer is rejected, to me it means that the sports program at BYU will be downgraded, and while I'll always be a fan, I won't be able to be as passionate and will probably start looking for another team to root for, or will root for no team at all.

This. I will always be a fan no matter who BYU is playing or what sport they are playing or what division. But I already follow other teams for various reasons - some of which change over time. But BYU is my main squeeze by far. The U is #2 and always will be because I got my MBA there and had a great experience there. I liked Northwestern and Illinois when I lived in Chicago just because I lived in Illinois. My favorite boss was a Buckeye and I hated Michigan and Bo S for going after Bosco's leg - so I supported the Buckeyes a bit. Still have a soft spot for those. I hate ND because they are ENTITLED. I lived in So. Cal forever, and UCLA, SDSU, and USC became the home teams along with Pepperdine, UCSB, UCI, Cal State Fullerton, and Loyola. One son graduated from Cal State Fullerton and my daughter from Loyola Law School - best friend Pepperdine Law School. Other best friend's son stars for UW. I live in Hawaii now. Go Bows.



So I have a lot of teams that interest me. BYU will remain #1. I have a son there in Law School and another who is a sophomore. But The U is moving higher up my list and becoming a close 2nd instead of a distant 2nd. Go Utes except when playing BYU.



None of that matters though it was nostalgic to type it up. What matters is this:



LDS players who think they have big-time NFL abilities who are willing to pass up prestige like USC, Stanford, ND, etc. to have an LDS experience will start making the U a compromise choice if BYU gets marginalized - especially if the U RISES UP in the PAC. I did not think the U would compete well over there unless things changed. So what did the U do? They went out and hired the best OC in the history of college football to make something out of nothing. KWhitt, like him or not, is a better coach for them and BCS access than Bronco. They got Langi and plucked the prize of that Bingham High Class right from under our nose - and got a Juco transfer that is even better who is leading the PAC in rushing on the back of running it down our throats. Utah is not holding still. I don't know how high they will rise or how long - but BYU has been making unwise moves at times out of denial of reality while Utah, BSU, and TCU played smart and worked the system to elevate themselves above us. Others will do the same thing if we do not wake up and smell the Postum. Independence was a very smart move but it has accomplished what it needed to accomplish and BYU needs to RISE UP now or get left behind.



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BYU needs to do more than accept a possible invite to the big12. The administration needs to be actively promoting our selling points to the big12 powers that be (behind closes doors of course...nothing looks worse than these schools like SMU openly begging for a spot).



BYU is in denial if it thinks it doesn't need conference allies.



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stuckinbig10country wrote:
If BYU was offered a chance to join the conference and they turned it down, I see a huge fall out for athletics at BYU. Below are some random thoughts.



1. Donations to the athletic department will drop. Right now I think BYU gets enough donations to match what the University of Utah athletic budget, even when they start getting their full share of the PAC 10. I think that will change by BYU not joining a conference when they had the chance. Last year there wasn't an offer, so donations didn't drop significantly..

BYU may drop the ball here and there, but not often, but I would almost be willing to guarantee that you will never hear, "We offered BYU a membership and they turned us down" from the Big 12. BYU would never mention it either. I still really believe that discussions did happened between the two entities, but the Big 12 will not "officially" offer without knowing that BYU would accept. If the Sunday rule won't be applied, then it's written in concrete folks, BYU will not be part of the conference and it will appear as though talks happened, but nothing officially, offer wise, ever came about.

stuckinbig10country wrote:

2. Scheduling will continue to be difficult and may even become harder. More of the BCS conferences will begin mandating that OOC games be played in the beginning of the season. Most BCS schools play 7 home games. BYU getting home and homes with these teams will continue to be few and far between.

This to me is the crux of it all, and really the only major bump in the road to independence. It's already obvious that BYU, as an independent, will be seen more frequently this season on main-stream TV (ESPN or BYUtv) than any other AQ and non-AQ team. But since we are not Notre Dame and we don't have these century old traditions of playing USC, Michigan, Michigan State, or Stanford, etc. we will struggle mightily to put together a valid and dynamic FB schedule. It is the #1 reason I see of BYU "needing" to have conference affiliation. If it wasn't for this issue, I'd do the same as Notre Dame and say we weren't interested.

stuckinbig10country wrote:

4. If BYU doesn't move their basketball team to the Big 12 if given the opportunity, Rose will not stay. He will start to lose some recruiting battles (he's already lost one) to Utah. Also, with Pac-10 schools coming into the state every year, there will be increased recruiting attention paid by those other schools.

No one wins all recruiting battles. That's a fact of the college sports world. The one lone recruit we lost to Utah out of several others over the last few years, wasn't going with Utah because of the PUKE12 as the deciding factor. His opportunity to be on display on a pathetic team and get starting time off the bat is unpararelled. He wouldn't have that opportuntiy at BYU and some of these kids don't bleed blue. I don't think Rose is gone if we don't or he would have been gone to OU with their lucrative offer last year.