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PROVO — College football’s expansion frenzy has slowed considerably over the last several months, reduced now to only rumors of schools hopscotching from one conference to another.
Locally, one question remains: Where does BYU fit in?
By any measure, the BYU football program belongs among the big boys. Like anybody else, the Cougars deserve a chance at the national championship and the fancy bowl games.
But until it actually occurs, as it has with Utah, BYU fans remain nervous about the program’s potentially tenuous position. And you can’t really blame them.
Since that fateful summer three years ago — when BYU was basically forced to leave the nowhere land of the Mountain West and become an independent — the program and its fans have seen numerous teams land in a more advantageous situation. For three years, BYU has watched the likes of Colorado and Rutgers change conferences.
For the time being, the Cougars are left to wonder which side of the fence they will be on. Will they be left to boast about a string of low national rankings — as if anybody aside from the particular team really cares who is ranked 20th — and another off-the-radar bowl win?
The Cougars will never gain the respect they desire by wrapping up the season against the likes of Tulsa and San Diego State or any middle-of-the-pack Pac-12 team.
To realistically compete for the national championship, coach Bronco Mendenhall has often said BYU may need to string together consecutive unbeaten seasons. Under the current rules, his prediction may be accurate — but the obvious problem is, it’s also impossible.
Given its history, BYU should be granted the same access as Notre Dame and all the teams that comprise the power conferences. Anything less is unfair.
Taking emotion out of the equation, let’s examine the reasons why the Cougars belong with college football’s privileged.
When it comes to tradition, BYU unquestionably has it. The LaVell Edwards era, which spanned almost three decades, speaks for itself. Whatever there was to win, individually or on a team level, BYU won it with Edwards as the coach.
Entering his ninth season as head coach, Mendenhall quickly picked up where Edwards left off. In a time period that is much more competitive than the glory years, Mendenhall mostly has kept BYU relevant on the national scene.
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In terms of interest, BYU can compete with most any program that isn’t annually in the top 10. ESPN wouldn’t have gobbled up the Cougars on short notice if it weren’t in its best interest. Granted, BYU had to sell its soul in terms of starting times — nobody likes late-night kickoffs in November — but the program is getting the exposure it craved and was denied much of the time in the Mountain West.
While not on the level as the fanatics in the Southeastern Conference, BYU can strut out at least 60,000 diehards on any given Saturday in the fall. The dedicated fan base is another indication that BYU deserves the proper postseason access.
At this time, it’s foolish for BYU to even speak of national championship ambitions. Mendenhall’s focus should be on getting an effective offense that doesn’t require a staff overhaul each time it endures a bad season.
The fact is, few teams can realistically speak of a national championship with any seriousness. The overwhelming majority of teams in BCS conferences will never sniff a shot at playing in the upcoming football playoff.
But each of those teams can sell the possibility, even if it never happens. And if any of them ever win enough games, it will happen.
At some point, and who knows when, the Cougars will put together a dream season. Let’s hope the appropriate award awaits them.
