Can I get a little clarification here? Why is the MWC autobid dead?

[landpoke]

Ugh... Fresno St & Nevada? Then we can have road trips to dumpy stadiums in Fresno, Reno, Cheyenne AND Albuquerque.

I will not be baited.

[Rickomatic]

This is why I think you'll see BSU, TCU, and BYU in BCS conferences in the next few years. The best way for them to preserve the status quo is to invite the "overachieving mid-majors" to the club.

I will admit I am a BYU homer, but how has the Y overachieved as a mid-major without getting to a BCS bowl? Hawaii has at least done that.

[Indy Coug]

I will admit I am a BYU homer, but how has the Y overachieved as a mid-major without getting to a BCS bowl? Hawaii has at least done that.

It depends if you want to ignore the years spanning 1979 to 1996 or not. BYU is the only non-BCS school with a national championship.

[Blueintheface]

It depends if you want to ignore the years spanning 1979 to 1996 or not. BYU is the only non-BCS school with a national championship.

19 out of 26 conference championships in a row means nothing when you pray before your football games.

(How was that for persecution complex?)

[Rickomatic]

It depends if you want to ignore the years spanning 1979 to 1996 or not. BYU is the only non-BCS school with a national championship.

The BCS didn't exist. So Army, Yale, Dartmouth, TCU, SMU and a bunch more school can say that they are non-BCS schools with at least one national championship in Div 1 college football.

[UtahDan]

19 out of 26 conference championships in a row means nothing when you pray before your football games.

(How was that for persecution complex?)

No one is impressed by winning 30 out of the last 30 conference USA or WAC titles either. You have to go to a BCS game and win, bottom line. What BYU has shown it can do more consistently than anyone else is beat the tar out of inferior competition. That is no slight, Utah has not always shown up against weaker teams. But you haven't accomplished anything anyone outside of the MWC cares about either. Not since 1984, which might as well be 1944 for purposes of today's analysis.

[Indy Coug]

The 1996 Cotton Bowl game with BYU vs Kansas State was a BCS bowl game in every practical sense.

[UtahDan]

The 1996 Cotton Bowl game with BYU vs Kansas State was a BCS bowl game in every practical sense.

Except in the most important way, which is that it wasn't.

[Rickomatic]

The 1996 Cotton Bowl game with BYU vs Kansas State was a BCS bowl game in every practical sense.

It either is or it isn't. You can't have it both ways. Non-BCS vs. BCS, have vs. havenots whatever.

[Indy Coug]

Except in the most important way, which is that it wasn't.

BYU played in a New Year's Bowl as a top 5 team nationally against a BCS opponent. The WAC did not have a contract with the Cotton Bowl. Saying that BYU wasn't in a BCS bowl is an argument over semantics.

Utah, TCU and Boise would never have been in a BCS bowl if it hadn't been for 1996 BYU and the associated political fallout that led to the codified criteria for admission to future BCS competition.

[DU Ute]

I will not be baited.

Cheyenne would be a huge upgrade compared to Laramie.

[Rickomatic]

BYU played in a New Year's Bowl as a top 5 team nationally against a BCS opponent. The WAC did not have a contract with the Cotton Bowl. Saying that BYU wasn't in a BCS bowl is an argument over semantics.

Utah, TCU and Boise would never have been in a BCS bowl if it hadn't been for 1996 BYU and the associated political fallout that led to the codified criteria for admission to future BCS competition.

Indy, the Y beat down the bushes and cleared the trail. The just couldn't walk the final few steps. The U was able to walk right over top of us and got in.

[beefytee]

BYU played in a New Year's Bowl as a top 5 team nationally against a BCS opponent. The WAC did not have a contract with the Cotton Bowl. Saying that BYU wasn't in a BCS bowl is an argument over semantics.

Utah, TCU and Boise would never have been in a BCS bowl if it hadn't been for 1996 BYU and the associated political fallout that led to the codified criteria for admission to future BCS competition.

They did have a contract with the WAC. After the SWC dissolved the agreement was a choice between Pac #2 and Wac #1. This was the only year they chose the Wac #1.

[creekster]

No one is impressed by winning 30 out of the last 30 conference USA or WAC titles either. You have to go to a BCS game and win, bottom line. What BYU has shown it can do more consistently than anyone else is beat the tar out of inferior competition. That is no slight, Utah has not always shown up against weaker teams. But you haven't accomplished anything anyone outside of the MWC cares about either. Not since 1984, which might as well be 1944 for purposes of today's analysis.

This is simply not true and shows the insidious nature of dividing the college football world with the BCS sword. BYU has beaten many BCS teams, including bowl opponents, since 1984. As Indy points out, the 1996 Cotton Bowl victory was everything that any BCS bowl victory for a non AQ team is now but no one sees it that way because it wasn't yet part of the codified BCS world. Since the BCS rules were put in place BYU has been highly ranked, has beaten BCS teams, and has won conferences. What it has not been able to do is break into a BCS bowl game. While that is due to its own on field losses, typically, the fact that all of BYU's other accomplishments during the period are minimized or ignored is really senseless and happens only because people ascribe far too much importance to the BCS games. BYU has been and remains one of the premier FB programs int he country but is undersold by the very logic you used in this post. I don't really blame you for this, btw, as you are young and inexperienced. And you are a Ute.

[Jarid in Cedar]

They did have a contract with the WAC. After the SWC dissolved the agreement was a choice between Pac #2 and Wac #1. This was the only year they chose the Wac #1.

That is how I recall it as well. The agreement predated the 16 headed monster which may be why they did not renew it.