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Wednesday, June 23, 2010
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I don't think BYU gains anything by joining the Big XII. BYU is in a good position right now in the Mountain West. The conference is getting better every year. We have teams at the bottom of the conference but we don't have any bottom feeders per se. (It isn't the same lousy teams each year and only one regressed significantly last year).
ReplyDeleteEach of the power conferences started from somewhere. The Big XII is a relatively newer player in that arena and really doesn't resemble the Big 8 much at all. Right now, BYU shares the head of the table with Boise State and the Horned Frogs. Why would you give that up? To play second fiddle to Texas?
TCU,
ReplyDeleteI must agree with you about the MWC heading in the right direction, and I have said so in the past. I also think that many Cougar fans underestimate the benefits we enjoy by being at the head of the MWC table.
That being said, I think BYU should go to the Big 12 to be in a better position for whatever might happen in the future (4 16 team mega conferences leaving the NCAA), whether it be near or distant. BYU would be strenthening its resume. If BYU can go compete in the Big 12 and even win the championship once every 5 years, then it is much harder for the powers that be in college football to leave BYU out if/when they break away. It will also show that all the "baggage" that BYU brings as a religious institution is not such a big deal.
So to answer your question, the reason to leave the "privileged" spot in the MWC is because it may be necessary for survival (staying in the most competitive division of college football) in the future. Of course we could debate whether that is right or wrong, but unfortuantly, that is the way things are right now.
Do you really think it is realistic that those "elite" 64 teams will leave the NCAA to create their own super league? First of all, the Title IX implications for the universities would be a challenge that most of them wouldn't want. They would have to sponsor a new men's team in another sport or drop a women's team somewhere.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I don't think they all could agree on teams to bring. Does Baylor get to go? Ann Richardson isn't the Texas Govenor anymore.
Third, if they don't like the political heat that is being turned on the BCS now then they really won't like the scrutiny an invitation only football club gets. Gordon Gee (President of OSU) once claimed that the BCS would die only after he's dead. The university presidents are the ones that ultimately make the calls and as long as the money is still flowing to Florida, Ohio State, USC, Oklahoma and Texas, nothing is going to change. Nebraska, Missouri and other big programs may be looking for bigger pay days but they won't easily convice the big five to share the money more evenly.
The point is, the NCAA is going to be around a long time. BYU is better off where they are now turning the Mountain West into a respected conference rather than becomming another Baylor in the Big XII.