PROVO — There are a lot of things not to like about being an independent team in a college football landscape surrounded by teams with conference affiliations.

Conference teams sign billion-dollar television deals, independent teams do not. Conference teams are guaranteed spots in the New Year's Six Bowl Games, independent teams are not. Conference teams have at least eight games scheduled before each season starts, lessening the work for the athletic director, independent teams do not. Conference teams have the ability to collectively bargain, independent teams do not. For most teams, conference affiliation is a no-brainer.

And yet, for BYU, perhaps independence is best.

Currently, the Cougars are the 22nd-ranked team in the country, with a 2-1 record coming off a one point loss at UCLA. Exposure is a long sought after goal for BYU, hoping to find national audiences despite playing in one of the smaller cities in all of major college football. Through three games, BYU has appeared on ABC, ESPN2 and Fox Sports 1.

This weekend's game against Michigan will again be televised on ABC, and the following game, against Connecticut, will air on ESPN2. I believe a large contributor to BYU's national ranking is the number of eyes that caught the Cougars' two miraculous wins over Nebraska and Boise State, with Associated Press voters having easy access to the games.

Meanwhile, as hard as it is to believe, cross-town rival, and Mountain West Conference member Utah State had its season-opener blacked out nationwide, with no television coverage in any market. To date, it's the Aggies only win, and nobody, including AP voters, fans or potential recruits could see it. While it's unlikely that BYU, even if it was a Mountain West Conference team, would ever find itself in a blackout, the access to national television audiences would be lacking.

A quick Google search for Tanner Mangum reveals exactly the type of exposure BYU is getting as an independent. ESPN, Fox Sports, CBS Sports and ABC News all have features on the freshman QB. Mangum recently appeared on the Dan Patrick radio program, and ESPN featured a three-minute segment on Mangum and BYU during its weekly college football kickoff program "College GameDay."

No conference money, Power 5 or not, can buy you that type of exposure; it's truly unique to BYU.

Saturday's loss to UCLA likely hurts BYU more than any loss by any other team in the country, as the Cougars all but guaranteed themselves a date to either the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl or the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, provided they win six games and become bowl eligible. Whereas the Power 5 conferences can guarantee their champions a spot in the major bowl games, and even the highest-rated Group of Five team is guaranteed a place, BYU finds itself in a gray area, with no guarantee of any representation.

Related:

To see BYU's football future, look at Utah's past

Bronco Mendenhall and the BYU Cougars are on the horizon of a critical season, one where they see the hopes of their move away from the Mountain West Conference and into independence realized in the opponents on this year's schedule.

By winning the rest of their games, and finishing with an 11-1 record, the Cougars could pressure the college football playoff committee into drafting them into a New Year's Six Bowl Game, but it's difficult to envision a scenario where a one-loss BYU team gets in over a one, or even two-loss Power 5 team.

However, does that lessen the excitement of BYU's regular season wins? Does it lessen the number of eyes that saw back-to-back Hail Mary throws to win games? Does it mean BYU can no longer finish in the AP Top 25 final rankings? While the added winnings could be beneficial to the Cougars financially, what effect does it have on the fans?

Boise State has regularly made less money than Power 5 opponents, does that lessen the value of big regular season wins over Oregon, Oregon State, Virginia Tech, Georgia and Washington? Do you remember which win coincided with which bowl appearance for the Broncos? BYU appeared in the Miami Beach Bowl last season, did that make its blowout win over Texas any less special? BYU beat Ole Miss to open the 2011 season, did an appearance in the Armed Forces Bowl lessen the excitement of Kyle Van Noy's fumble recovery touchdown less exciting?

Would the appearance in a major bowl add to BYU's resume? Absolutely, but there's no guarantee that the Cougars would get the Group of Five bid every year, even with a special season. Memphis last season finished with 10 wins, and was co-champion of the American Athletic Conference, and still appeared in the Miami Beach Bowl, just like BYU.

In the past, I was an advocate of BYU joining any conference, valuing a New Year's Six Bowl Game appearance over any regular season win, but the first three weeks of the 2015 season have changed my mind. While I may feel differently after a long stretch of games against Connecticut, East Carolina, Cincinnati, Wagner and San Jose State, a look at BYU's future schedules shows that these types of low-level stretches will become more rare, while the number of Power 5 opponents will increase.

If BYU is to land an offer from a Power 5 conference, it should, and would accept it. The Power 5's guarantees are too much to pass up, even if it were to mean potentially less television exposure. But whereas in the past I would have traded any regular season win for access to a New Year's Six Bowl Game, well, what exactly are two Hail Mary's worth?

Ben Anderson is the co-host of Gunther in the Afternoon with Kyle Gunther on 1320 KFAN from 3-7, Monday through Friday. Read Ben's Utah Jazz blog at 1320kfan.com, and follow him on Twitter @BenKFAN.

Related topics