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Last summer, when the first conference realignment tremors were being felt, BYU administrators may have been sitting by their phones. No calls came. Not from the Pac-10, not from the Big 12. "We were never involved," said BYU AD Tom Holmoe recently.
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The reasons were probably numerous, but in general, you could say the Pac-10 seemingly had a genetic, philosophical aversion to BYU, while the fractured Big 12 had a stated desire to unify and prosper within its Texas/Oklahoma power center.
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A year later, the Pac-12 is moving ahead as a two-division league, bolstered by a bold new media arrangement and an attendant financial windfall for all of its schools. The Pac-12 may be thinking even bigger, but without some radical change in the mindset of that conference's leaders, it's doubtful any plans would include BYU.
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The Big 12--well, that's another story altogether. 12 months after the ten remaining conference schools pledged to one another their commitment and affection, all it took was a little Texas power play to blow it all up. Texas' collaboration with ESPN and the creation of the Longhorn Network shifted the balance of power even more toward Austin than ever before, and it was simply too much for Texas A&M to take. The Aggies are on their way out, and they may not be the only ones assessing the availability of lifeboats they can paddle to another conference.
A year after the Big 12 became ten, the league faces yet another crisis of identity and stability.
It is in this current environment that BYU is suddenly a popular target, or so it would appear. If indeed the Big 12 is now interested in BYU, how interested should the Cougars be in the Big 12?
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The Big 12, as it is currently composed, is anything but a sure thing. It has years of history, marquee programs, a new mega-bucks media deal, but the league is for the moment on shaky ground—-its coveted BCS status notwithstanding.
A year ago, the conference appeared close to dissolution, and had Texas opted for the "Pac-16 Plan," the end of the league would have essentially been a fait accompli. Getting Texas to stay meant giving the Longhorns more of what they wanted, and as the Big 12's bell cow, they got to write their own check.
The Longhorns' enhanced status within the league has engendered jealousy and enmity, and while BYU was often the envy of other WAC and MWC schools, it was rarely able to wield the kind of power Texas boasts in the Big 12. Indeed, BYU's relative lack of influence led to its breakaway from the Mountain West Conference.
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The Big 12 is just this side of desperate. The league members know Texas could afford to go it alone as a football independent, so in that respect, the league needs Texas more than Texas needs the league. The Big 12 is reportedly thinking very big, apparently having added Notre Dame to its expansion wish list, and perhaps schools in the southeast and northeast, in addition to BYU.
Would Notre Dame give up its football independence for the Big 12? The Irish already have in place a big-money media contract with a dedicated national TV network, it has favorable BCS access, and annual rivalries that the Irish may value more than trips to places like Waco and Lubbock, Columbia and Ames. Notre Dame's basketball conference home in the hoops-centric Big East puts it in major east coast markets; it doesn't need the Big 12 for competition or visibility.
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Certainly, Notre Dame would change the vital composition of the Big 12, and exponentially increase its viability. If Notre Dame were somehow persuaded to align with the Big 12, how would that go over in Austin? Is the Big 12 big enough for two nationally-powerful alpha dogs—not to mention another major player, were BYU and its own TV network and set of demands be brought into the mix? And make no mistake, BYU would have demands. For the school to even consider the Big 12 (as a tenth, 11th or 12th team) would mean receiving a series of meaningful guarantees, allowances and even inducements.
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Just for starters, BYU would require an across-the-board ban on Sunday play in whichever contest or championship involved the Cougars. BYU would require consent for all of BYUtv's current access and distribution plans. BYU would probably require iron-clad assurances that Texas and Oklahoma were committed to long-term Big 12 membership.
BYU would also seek a philosophical fit among increasingly territorial institutions—all without the benefit of historical relationships or geographical proximity. In short, BYU would be looking for the kinds of promises and comforts that are hard to come by in today's fluid collegiate athletics environment.
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In contrast, BYU's current plan for football independence and West Coast Conference membership is supported by thoughtful vision, infrastructure, fiscal stability, and philosophical fit. BYU did not enter into independence or the WCC lightly, nor did it do so as a cynical bargaining chip, with the end goal of using the last year's leverage to hit some sort of BCS jackpot.
BYU's leaders are very pleased with the direction they are currently headed. The school and its sponsoring church's objectives can be achieved through excellence and now- available exposure, without the need for a bigger or supposedly better stage.
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This is not to say that those leaders' eyes and ears are closed to opportunity. After all, Holmoe did recently say "I think we belong in a BCS conference." At the same time, elements of trust, commitment and integrity are in play—and BYU is mindful of the gravity with which it made key decisions of long-term consequence, just last summer.
After a recent stadium scrimmage, just as the Big 12 rumor mill was starting to grind, Holmoe added this:
"We're doing some things right now...just what we wanted to do. People don't really understand what's in it for us. We have a plan, and it's a good plan, and we want to unroll that."
"We are more concerned about our interests and what we can accomplish and and what we can do, more than we are with other people. We're pretty secure and confident with what we can do. I don't really know what people out there can do."
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The Big 12 may be appealing on the surface, but its prospects have deeper merit only if the league can present BYU with a plan that encompasses most if not all of the school's needs and wishes, while allowing it to honor certain agreements and relationships. The siren song of the Big 12 is ostensibly replete with dollar signs and status. In other words, it is a typical worldly appeal to pride and greed. Yet, BYU already possesses much of what it desires. It operates with the self-confidence that comes with knowing exactly who it is, what and who it represents, and how best to transmit that message to an ever-expanding audience.
Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a mess of pottage. BYU won't be compromising its decades-old charter simply for BCS access or a few million more dollars. It's not exactly pottage, but right now, the Big 12 is a little bit of a mess.
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