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I would like to thank Dick Harmon of the Deseret News for his column documenting BYU's continued dominance of Mountain West Conference athletics.
I thank Dick because I wanted to write today about that very topic, and now I can refer you to his fine column as I add a few statistical notes of my own.
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From the inception of the MWC in 1999 through Saturday, May 15th, 2010, BYU has now won 130 combined regular season and tournament championships. That's 130 of 328 regular season and tournament titles, or 40% of all conference championships awarded.
BYU's in-league supremacy is unmatched and it's safe to say the Cougars will never be caught.
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Total MWC Championships (Regular Season and Tournament Combined)
BYU: 130
Utah: 47
UNLV: 35
New Mexico: 32
San Diego State: 28
TCU*: 26
Colorado State: 26
Air Force: 2
Wyoming: 2
*member since 2005-06
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MWC Regular Season Championships
BYU: 40
Utah: 31
San Diego State: 17
TCU: 14
Colorado State: 13
UNLV: 10
New Mexico: 9
Wyoming: 2
Air Force: 1
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MWC Tournament Championships
BYU: 90
UNLV: 25
New Mexico: 23
Utah: 16
Colorado State: 13
TCU: 12
San Diego State: 11
Air Force: 1
Wyoming: 0
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If an expanding Pac-10 or Big 12 were simply looking to take the best athletic program from the MWC, it would be no contest. Whether in the marquee "money" sports or the Olympic non-revenue sports, BYU does it better than anyone else in the conference, with the best facilities, attendance numbers and coast-to-coast fan support to boot.
So, what will it mean if and when a bigger league comes calling? Maybe not much, as long as BYU is playing on Sundays.
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I am discounting the Pac-10's interest in BYU at this point, although I would be pleasantly surprised if an outside-the-box Commissioner like Larry Scott were to push Pac-10 presidents for BYU's inclusion on the basis of overall program excellence, TV appeal and broad-based spectator support.
As for the Big 12, BYU would be depending on the same resume highlights, but ostensibly without the Pac-10 bias against a school such as BYU. The public perception at this point is that the Pac-10 is closed-minded and prejudiced against BYU, while the Big 12 is more pragmatic and open-minded. Only time and future events will verify or debunk that perception, but that's how it is playing in the public forum: the Pac-10 wouldn't want BYU; the Big 12 would.
As always, it comes back to Sunday play. How big an obstacle would it be for BYU to overcome in a new league in which it is no longer the top dog? It's a question for which we still don't have an answer, and until we do, BYU's possibilities as an expansion target are limited.
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As impressive as BYU's body or work has been in the MWC, it must be said that the conferences exploring expansion aren't necessarily targeting the best programs.
Is Rutgers the best program in the Big East? Are Nebraska and Missouri the dominant teams in the Big 12? When is the last time Colorado was a prime-time player in that same league? Yet, all are perceived to be popular targets for reasons that have little or nothing to do with on-field program excellence.
Those programs offer either expanded geographic footprints, or the right number of TV sets, or regional fit, or the proper academic profile, or a combination thereof. The way I see it, BYU and its athletic program fulfill all of those expansion criteria and more: competitive consistency, historical relevance and name recognition, broad viewer/spectator appeal, and sustained superior performance.
Absolutely no disrespect whatsoever to the MWC (which BYU helped create), but BYU is a BCS-caliber program in a non-BCS league. Everything BYU has accomplished in recent decades would seemingly have prepared the school for an invitation to take its game to the next level. Will that invitation ever come?
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In the absence of such an invitation, BYU would remain part of a Mountain West Conference which plans to survive and thrive. Adding Boise State would bolster its membership and buttress the league's BCS qualification components.
Granted, any big-name departures from the MWC would damage those BCS qualification hopes, but the league can't worry about what might happen as much as it must be proactive and protective, and that likely means strategic expansion with a willing high-profile partner.
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