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I've lived in the Denver area for a while, and the "rivalry" between BYU and the UoU will never be the same unless BYU too, finds itself inside a "power conference".
Even though Colorado St. regards their "Rocky Mtn Showdown" with CU as the biggest game of the year, "their rival" etc....CU couldn't give a crap about CSU.
The prestige and perception of being in a superior conference, the have vs. have not disparity etc....will really hurt the perception of BYU in the long run.
BCS conference teams have the luxury of having it both ways, all the time.
IF a CU beats a CSU (or UtaH beats a BYU in this case)...well, they are supposed to. They have superior recruits, coaches, facilities etc.
If they lose?...well, CSU really gets up for one game and it doesn't mean anything to CU. Or, it was a fluke, an abberation,... or CU was off their game and they'll get it turned around by conference play.
In any case...the win/defeat is dismissed as something less than it is. Every non-conference rivalry that you can think of that actually "means" something is because BOTH schools are from a power conference of one affiliation or another. In NO case can you point out a major rivalry between a BCS caliber team and a non-AQ team.
This will suck big time if BYU doesn't get in to the Big 12...or the MWC receives an AQ of their own.
Even though Colorado St. regards their "Rocky Mtn Showdown" with CU as the biggest game of the year, "their rival" etc....CU couldn't give a crap about CSU.
The prestige and perception of being in a superior conference, the have vs. have not disparity etc....will really hurt the perception of BYU in the long run.
BCS conference teams have the luxury of having it both ways, all the time.
IF a CU beats a CSU (or UtaH beats a BYU in this case)...well, they are supposed to. They have superior recruits, coaches, facilities etc.
If they lose?...well, CSU really gets up for one game and it doesn't mean anything to CU. Or, it was a fluke, an abberation,... or CU was off their game and they'll get it turned around by conference play.
In any case...the win/defeat is dismissed as something less than it is. Every non-conference rivalry that you can think of that actually "means" something is because BOTH schools are from a power conference of one affiliation or another. In NO case can you point out a major rivalry between a BCS caliber team and a non-AQ team.
This will suck big time if BYU doesn't get in to the Big 12...or the MWC receives an AQ of their own.