BYU going independent?

[89Hen]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5472642

Rival Utah's move to the Pac-10 has given BYU the impetus to seriously explore the possibility of leaving the Mountain West, going independent in football and re-joining the WAC in all other sports, multiple sources told ESPN.com Tuesday.

BYU, according to sources, was stunned that an invitation didn't come its way as the Pac-10 first invited the Big 12's Colorado and then turned to Utah to become the Pac-12 earlier this summer. The Big 12, which lost Nebraska to the Big Ten as well, decided to stay with 10 members for 2012 and beyond after Texas decided to stay put instead of going to the Pac-10.

According to sources, BYU wants to differentiate itself from Utah, and by making itself the Notre Dame of the West, it could become a national power. Notre Dame is a football independent and in the Big East for all other sports....

[dbackjon]

Fuck the Mormons. Their sponsorship of Prop H8 is coming back to bite them on the ass. The California Presidents will NEVER allow a bastian of intolerance and hatred in the Pac 10.

[89Hen]

Fuck the Mormons. Their sponsorship of Prop H8 is coming back to bite them on the ass. The California Presidents will NEVER allow a bastian of intolerance and hatred in the Pac 10.

So as long as they demonstrate intolerance and hatred first, it's OK to be intolerant and hate back?

[dbackjon]

Fuck the Mormons. Their sponsorship of Prop H8 is coming back to bite them on the ass. The California Presidents will NEVER allow a bastian of intolerance and hatred in the Pac 10.

So as long as they demonstrate intolerance and hatred first, it's OK to be intolerant and hate back?

So we are just supposed to ignore their hatred? Let them hate with no consequences? Fuck that. I do not tolerate those that actively seek to keep me a second class citizen. No true American that believes in the principles this country was founded on should either.

[Shellin]

That would suck for Boise, the MWC minus Utah and BYU would still be stronger than the WAC, and probably still a better geographical fit for BSU, but this certainly wasn't what they were looking for when they switched. A MWC with just TCU and BSU as top flight programs probably wouldn't meet the criteria for a BCS auto-bid either.

As far as the BYU situation, if they really are considering going independent it's one of the dumbest ideas I've heard of. All the talk of a "Notre Dame of the west" is good and all, except Notre Dame hasn't been relevant in nearly 20 years when it comes to the national championship picture. Notre Dame also has a ton of historic rivalries and games they play every single year (Michigan, Michigan State, USC, Boston College, Navy, etc) so they can remain independent because they are pretty much guaranteed those games every year. Who is going to step up and want to play BYU every single season, besides Utah? With the way non-conference scheduling has become there is no way teams are going to toss away one of their non-conference games to play an independent who has no hope of gaining a television contract like Notre Dame has with NBC.

At this point I think BYU will remain in the MWC, it just isn't financially feasible to go any other way. I certainly did appreciate the part in the article where BYU said they were "stunned" that they didn't receive an invitation from the Pac-10. I'm sure BYU wasn't even in the top 10 of teams the Pac-10 was considering for expansion, there was no way they were getting an invitation, and they knew that from the beginning.

[Ivytalk]

The Notre Dame of the West? BWAHAHAHA!

[GrizFanStuckInUtah]

I think the biggest reason Utah left and BYU wants to leave is the shitty channel they get to broadcast their games. The person at the MWC that made that decision, almost put a death nail in the conference in my mind. It has been a terrible way to broadcast games and should be disbanded. While Utah and BYU were/are in the MWC, they will continue to have terrible tv revenue because no one wants or cares about "The Mountain" channel and lots of people can't get it even if they did give a rat's ass.

[JayJ79]

Fuck the Mormons. Their sponsorship of Prop H8 is coming back to bite them on the ass. The California Presidents will NEVER allow a bastian of intolerance and hatred in the Pac 10.

funny that a group that is known for their unconventional marriages (polygamy, old guys marrying preteen girls) is against other unconventional marriages.

[DJH]

BYU thinks they are much more important than they actually are.

This will blow up in their face.

[ASUMountaineer]

I think the biggest reason Utah left and BYU wants to leave is the shitty channel they get to broadcast their games. The person at the MWC that made that decision, almost put a death nail in the conference in my mind. It has been a terrible way to broadcast games and should be disbanded. While Utah and BYU were/are in the MWC, they will continue to have terrible tv revenue because no one wants or cares about "The Mountain" channel and lots of people can't get it even if they did give a rat's ass.

Didn't the article say BYU has it's own channel, so by going independent they can utilize that channel. I also think I read that their president was on the East Coast meeting with CBS and Comcast about carrying BYU-TV to reach a bigger audience. BYU may be in a better position than many think...and could possibly set themselves up to be better than the entire MWC. But, as we've seen with the realignment, who knows what's going to happen?

[clenz]

I think the biggest reason Utah left and BYU wants to leave is the shitty channel they get to broadcast their games. The person at the MWC that made that decision, almost put a death nail in the conference in my mind. It has been a terrible way to broadcast games and should be disbanded. While Utah and BYU were/are in the MWC, they will continue to have terrible tv revenue because no one wants or cares about "The Mountain" channel and lots of people can't get it even if they did give a rat's ass.

Didn't the article say BYU has it's own channel, so by going independent they can utilize that channel. I also think I read that their president was on the East Coast meeting with CBS and Comcast about carrying BYU-TV to reach a bigger audience. BYU may be in a better position than many think...and could possibly set themselves up to be better than the entire MWC. But, as we've seen with the realignment, who knows what's going to happen?

BYU has it's own HD equipment/truck to broadcast whatever they want in HD all across the country.

I was listening to the ESPN overnight radio guy last night he he had some BYU guy on who said that they estimate their channel could be carried in up to 150 MILLION homes.

[ASUMountaineer]

So as long as they demonstrate intolerance and hatred first, it's OK to be intolerant and hate back?

So we are just supposed to ignore their hatred? Let them hate with no consequences? **** that. I do not tolerate those that actively seek to keep me a second class citizen. No true American that believes in the principles this country was founded on should either.

You're right, everyone should be treated equally. For example, no government-sanctioned marriage. To gain real freedom, put your effort behind eliminating government approval of marriage.

Perhaps the Mormons are pissed they can't marry multiple women, so they're ruining it for everyone else seeking to be "approved" by the government.

If government-sanctioned marriage were ended, this wouldn't be an issue. But, true "freedom" doesn't appear to be an option for most fighting for gay marriage. The real shame is that there's Americans who think the government should control the "institution" of marriage--I'm guessing you're in that boat?

[ASUMountaineer]

Didn't the article say BYU has it's own channel, so by going independent they can utilize that channel. I also think I read that their president was on the East Coast meeting with CBS and Comcast about carrying BYU-TV to reach a bigger audience. BYU may be in a better position than many think...and could possibly set themselves up to be better than the entire MWC. But, as we've seen with the realignment, who knows what's going to happen?

BYU has it's own HD equipment/truck to broadcast whatever they want in HD all across the country.

I was listening to the ESPN overnight radio guy last night he he had some BYU guy on who said that they estimate their channel could be carried in up to 150 MILLION homes.

Right, I think they may be better positioned to go independent than some think. But, that's not easy to do and there'd be no point unless they could work out a deal with the BCS similar to what Notre Dame has.

[clenz]

BYU has it's own HD equipment/truck to broadcast whatever they want in HD all across the country.

I was listening to the ESPN overnight radio guy last night he he had some BYU guy on who said that they estimate their channel could be carried in up to 150 MILLION homes.

Right, I think they may be better positioned to go independent than some think. But, that's not easy to do and there'd be no point unless they could work out a deal with the BCS similar to what Notre Dame has.

Agreed. However, if BYU can work a deal that something along the lines of "finish in the top 8 or 10 and get and autobid" I wouldn't blame them for it. To win the MWC conference they would likely be a top 10 team anyway....well at least with the old league, maybe not with the new one.

However, if they can get games like Notre Dame does, and they would deserve a top 10 finish if they went through that with 1 or 2 losses.

I think Notre Dame is a top 12 finish, am I wrong(?), so I would think BYU would have to accept a higher finish to get an auto bid.

[CitadelGrad]

Fuck the Mormons. Their sponsorship of Prop H8 is coming back to bite them on the ass. The California Presidents will NEVER allow a bastian of intolerance and hatred in the Pac 10.

funny that a group that is known for their unconventional marriages (polygamy, old guys marrying preteen girls) is against other unconventional marriages.

Bill Henrickson thinks you're a bigot.

[ASUMountaineer]

Right, I think they may be better positioned to go independent than some think. But, that's not easy to do and there'd be no point unless they could work out a deal with the BCS similar to what Notre Dame has.

Agreed. However, if BYU can work a deal that something along the lines of "finish in the top 8 or 10 and get and autobid" I wouldn't blame them for it. To win the MWC conference they would likely be a top 10 team anyway....well at least with the old league, maybe not with the new one.

However, if they can get games like Notre Dame does, and they would deserve a top 10 finish if they went through that with 1 or 2 losses.

I think Notre Dame is a top 12 finish, am I wrong(?), so I would think BYU would have to accept a higher finish to get an auto bid.

You hit the nail on the head. If BYU can work that deal out, they'd be stupid not to take it. I think you're right on ND's finish, and I too would expect BYU to have to finish higher.

[ASUMountaineer]

funny that a group that is known for their unconventional marriages (polygamy, old guys marrying preteen girls) is against other unconventional marriages.

Bill Henrickson thinks you're a bigot.

Wow, who could blame the guy? Most of the polygymist chicks you see on tv do not look like those!

[AZGrizFan]

I've also heard that if BYU DOES leave the MWC, then the AFA says it's going independent (like Navy and Army).

[JayJ79]

funny that a group that is known for their unconventional marriages (polygamy, old guys marrying preteen girls) is against other unconventional marriages.

Bill Henrickson thinks you're a bigot.

Never said that I was against polygamy. just that it is unconventional.

(though I AM against old guys (or anyone else) marrying preteen girls)

[TigerStripe]

I think BYU could pull this off.

[clenz]

I've also heard that if BYU DOES leave the MWC, then the AFA says it's going independent (like Navy and Army).

I've always wondered why AFA wasn't Indy like the other military academies.

[Fresno St. Alum]

I've also heard that if BYU DOES leave the MWC, then the AFA says it's going independent (like Navy and Army).

I've always wondered why AFA wasn't Indy like the other military academies.

Because they'd didn't have the Patriot league to bail them out for all other sports. Plus it's much harder to fill an Indy schedule out west than in the east. Travel alone would be a bitch. They'd have to work a WAC for all other sports deal like BYU, not sure they bring the clout to get an invite like that.

[GrizFanStuckInUtah]

Didn't the article say BYU has it's own channel, so by going independent they can utilize that channel. I also think I read that their president was on the East Coast meeting with CBS and Comcast about carrying BYU-TV to reach a bigger audience. BYU may be in a better position than many think...and could possibly set themselves up to be better than the entire MWC. But, as we've seen with the realignment, who knows what's going to happen?

BYU has it's own HD equipment/truck to broadcast whatever they want in HD all across the country.

I was listening to the ESPN overnight radio guy last night he he had some BYU guy on who said that they estimate their channel could be carried in up to 150 MILLION homes.

Yep and that is why they want out of the MWC, it isn't the teams, it's the crappy TV deal they made. "The Mountain" isn't carried by nearly enough carriers and I know I can't even get it at my house in Utah so that doesn't bode well for someone out of state. Who knows how this will shake out, but "The Mountain" channel needs to be killed and not renewed if the conference wants to survive.

[93henfan]

Not to sound like an arrogant east coast dickhead, but nobody on the east coast gives a flying fuck about Brigham Young University. I can't speak for out there, but does anyone outside of say Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, or Nevada give a shit about BYU either? To even mention themselves is in the same sentence as Notre Dame is a laughable thing for BYU to do.

[dbackjon]

Not to sound like an arrogant east coast dickhead, but nobody on the east coast gives a flying fuck about Brigham Young University. I can't speak for out there, but does anyone outside of say Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, or Nevada give a shit about BYU either? To even mention themselves is in the same sentence as Notre Dame is a laughable thing for BYU to do.

Only the Mormons on the East Coast