Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO — Six years removed from bolting the Mountain West Conference, BYU had better settle in for a long run as an independent in football.
Indications are, at least going by reigning opinion, the Big 12 is no longer interested in adding two programs to actually increase its membership to 12. As part of a regularly scheduled meeting, the 10 Big 12 presidents will meet July 18, with expansion being among the topics to be discussed.
In a column for CBS Sports last week, Dennis Dodd quoted Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione saying that signs point to a declining interest in expansion. Starting with the 2017 season, the 10-member group is slated to have a conference championship game, becoming the final Power 5 conference to do so. The other four conferences, though, have at least 12 teams and are split into two divisions.
“It’s pretty clear they’re not going to expand for the next few years,” said Berry Tramel, long-time writer for the Oklahoman newspaper in Oklahoma City.
But the problem is, the story won’t completely die. While Castiglione added that expansion talk was done “for the time being,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said the possibility isn’t completely dead.
By now, everybody associated with BYU has got to be tired of the constant roller-coaster nature on expansion. It’s time, for sake of BYU’s sanity, for the Big 12 to make a definitive decision either way.
“It looks like it’s not going to happen,” Dodd said. “There doesn’t seem to be momentum for it.”
Fine. Now let’s move on.
The trouble with independence
The entire college football world knows BYU wants in a Power 5 conference and remaining an independent is not financially possible for the long term. Athletic director Tom Holmoe has said as much during group interview sessions, especially after former coach Bronco Mendenhall went public with his desire to see BYU join the Big 12.
“Being independent is not the best thing,” said legendary former coach LaVell Edwards. “It’s tough. It’s tough to schedule.”
Six years ago, after Texas Christian and Utah left the Mountain West for the Big 12 and Pac-12, respectively, BYU followed suit and also jumped ship. But since no Power 5 conference came calling, BYU became an independent on the heels of an eight-year deal with ESPN.
At the time, it was a strategically correct decision, given that the ESPN deal was much more lucrative than what the Mountain West could offer. The television exposure also blew away the Mountain West package.
Related Story
Can BYU politic its way into the Big 12?
BYU athletics is known for a lot of things: A rich tradition of winning on the football field; a string of pro-level quarterbacks leading the university; 11 NCAA Tournament appearances since 2001; and championship-level competitiveness in nonrevenue sports.But the on-the-field results have not been as obvious. Since going independent, BYU has an overall record of 43-22 but is 10-14 against teams from Power 5 conferences. During that time, the Cougars are 0-4 against bitter rival Utah. Any realist can see Utah has the top program in the state.
Even if the Big 12 thumbs its collective nose at BYU, all is not lost. Holmoe has delivered on his original promise to upgrade the schedule over time, providing the team with a slate of games this season that is comparable to many Power 5 teams. It probably will always be difficult to get home games in November against big-name teams, but it’s not like the month of November as part of the Mountain West was all that impressive.
Eventually, BYU will be part of the Power 5 in whatever form those conferences look like over the next decade. Many have speculated in eight years, when current television deals expire, the college football landscape will include four conferences comprised of 16 teams.
Given its strong history and commitment to football, along with outstanding fan support, BYU will be on the inside of the circle. Down the line the long wait will only be a memory.
“I’m still pulling for Brigham Young, but there’s just not any momentum to get anything done right now,” said Tramel. “Cougar fans, be patient — we might get there some day.”
