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PROVO -- He admits he has avoided the topics of conference realignment and the future of the rivalry with the University of Utah in recent weeks, but it was a different story Friday as BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe answered dozens of questions on the issues in a session with radio and print media.
Conference realignment
During the meeting, Holmoe said the college football landscape is "not in concrete," and that there will probably be more significant changes nationally over the next two years, and there are ongoing discussions about membership.
He said while the chatter may calm down for a while, he believes more talk may surface as early as the end of the 2010 college football season.
"I look at the things that happened this year as kind of an initial move," Holmoe said. "There's a good likelihood, in my opinion, ... that nationally, things will not be settled for at least the next couple years."
Holmoe said while expansion and realignment has been at the forefront for the past six months, BYU "has been working on this for three years."
He said the challenge has been that BYU is in the middle of realignment without necessarily being on the inside.
"There are ongoing conversations about membership," Holmoe said.
Holmoe declined to talk about BYU's strategies, though he said there is no interest from other conferences right now in realigning to include the Cougars. He said if the move had been to "super conferences" this year, BYU would have been fine.
As for his previous silence on the realignment issue, Holmoe he avoided talking to the media because anything he could report to this point was not firsthand knowledge.
"Our stance changed every day," Holmoe said. "Maybe not changed every day, but we were bobbing and weaving based on the information we received."
Meanwhile, Holmoe said the school continues to position itself for whatever happens.
"If A, B or C happened, we would have our reaction prepared," Holmoe said.
The BYU-UofU Rivalry
As for how the changes will affect the Cougars' rivalry with the University of Utah, Holmoe said both BYU and Utah are trying to maintain the rivalry, but significant logistical problems remain.
"We're fighting to try to keep it, make it work, but it's hard," Holmoe said. "The logistics have all of a sudden changed dramatically, so we're going to fight to see what we can do, but there's no answer to that today."
Problems in football could surface as early as 2011, Utah's first year in the Pac-10. Both BYU and Utah may be looking for non-conference home games.
Holmoe scoffed at one media member's question of whether BYU would agree to a "2-for-1."
Ultimately, though, Holmoe said BYU would do what is best for its own interests.
Exposure
Meanwhile, Holmoe said there are options for BYU to be attractive and visible. He talked about BYU's new state-of-the-art broadcasting building.
"Folks, there's nothing better than that west of the Mississippi, in broadcasting," Holmoe said. "That's ours. The things we can do with that, the opportunities and possibilities, nobody in the country has that ability."
Holmoe suggested it wouldn't be best used by broadcasting replays of old BYU games. He said most all BYU athletic facilities are hardwired to the center.
"BYU men's and women's soccer, volleyball or baseball: we broadcast those games in English, Portuguese and Spanish," Holmoe said. "Why do we do that? Because they're going to South America, Central America and Portugal."
Quick hitters
- Holmoe said the Pac-10 was "never an option" for BYU. When asked if the school even received a "courtesy call," he said, "No, not a courtesy call." When asked what Utah had that BYU didn't, Holmoe said, "You'd have to ask the Pac-10."
- Holmoe was asked whether Utah's move to the Pac-10 would impact BYU's ability to schedule Utah State in football. He answered, "We'll see." But he also said the move does not affect BYU's desire to play Utah State.
- When asked where he'd like to see BYU in three to five years, Holmoe said "in a BCS bowl game."
- Holmoe acknowledged it was possible the Mountain West Conference could get an automatic bid to the BCS in two years, even if it fell short in the third qualifying category. At that point, it would be up to a vote. He said he didn't know which way that vote would go, but recognized the political pressure facing the BCS.
- Holmoe said he supported the addition of Boise State to the MWC, and that the conference had been talking about the Broncos for five years.
- Holmoe was asked about expanding LaVell Edwards Stadium. He said it would take 10 straight years of sellouts and a long waiting list.
- Holmoe was asked why Sunday play matters in other conferences for Olympic sports, since they are not revenue generating and often are not televised. He said he believed it boiled down to tradition and he has heard from other schools they do not like playing on Sunday.
- Holmoe said BYU is watching the stability of the Big 12 (-2). He dismissed the idea that if the new TV contract comes in significantly less than projected -- which he believes it could for the Big 12 and Pac-10 -- that it would throw a wrench in the 10 remaining schools' commitment to stay together.
- Holmoe said he believes many in the Big 12 do not want a football championship game because of what happened in the 2007 college football season, where Missouri beat Kansas to advance to the conference championship game, but Kansas received the BCS bowl bid because Missouri lost the championship game.
- Holmoe was asked about Jim McMahon finally returning to BYU for a fundraiser before the football season opener this fall. He said it will be "fantastic to have him come back."
E-mail: aadams@ksl.com
