The Big 12 expansion groundswell

[Cougarmandias]

FWIW, I'm excited about the potential of increased revenue: better facilities that are attractive to better recruits, which may result in better teams. That being said, this is BYU, and the Ath. Dept. may not have much say as to where and how the revenue is allocated/used.

My guess is that if the BoT have approved a plan to go the Big 12, they are doing it for exposure, not for money. Which means that the extra money BYU takes can and probably will be used for expenditures that have a decent business case of improving the BYU football program's profile.

The Church's parsimony is legendary, but I imagine we'll be willing to spend 'found' money to achieve our goals.

[Jacob]

Two times since 1980, we've had true Nat Champ caliber teams; 1984 of course and then 1996.

If we can have one contender team every ten years, then fans will be thrilled w 8-win seasons with the once a decade team that could challenge for the big kahuna.

A little nit-picking...if we were "true" champ caliber team in '84, then we were also in '83, since that team was better (according to Lavell, etc).

Interesting article on how Karma is treating some of the conference expansion jumpers

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefoot...g-teams-100311

Nebraska: lost
Colorado: lost
aTm: lost
Utah: lost



ouch!

Utes were perennial BCS contenders? Do they have the Utes confused with Boise?

[TheBYUGuy]

Sworn to secrecy, sorry!

I think you mean, "Too sacred to discuss."

[NorthwestUteFan]

To be honest we are not comparing apples to apples here. Utah would be 8-4 with a MWC schedule this year and will most likely be 6-6 in the Pac. So in reality the undefeated season does not happen either way.

So what? That just proves how tenuous the position is to get picked up by an AQ "not necessarily better except in nominal quality of opponents and number of dollars" conference. For Utah, 2007 was decent, 2008 was stellar, and 2009 was decent, 2010 was not so good, and 2011 is looking pretty rough. Luckily they were in the right place at the right time. Hopefully byu is at a level to convince the Big 12 they are the best team to consider for expansion.

I prefer a challenge, and would rather see my team get better through playing better opponents every week than to watch them boatrace Sisters of the Poor, plus play tough games against 3-4 good teams, as they used to do. I believe going 7-5 will be a 'pretty good' record over the next few years, and I hope they will be able to build up a solid core of new players and build better depth in the 2-deep, 3-deep, and even 4-deep spots. This will need to be a BIG focus for byu going forward into the Big 12.

I fully realize it will take an extraordinarily SPECIAL year to go 13-0 or even 10-3 in the league. Call me a masochist but I prefer the parity. I just hope the up/down cycles for both of our teams are somehow levelled a bit. The bipolar quality of play needs to end, and my hope is we will both be able to recruit

[NorthwestUteFan]

I think you mean, "Too sacred to discuss."

That's right. I was in work mode and not church mode. Thanks for the correction!

[TripletDaddy]

Which facilities does BYU need to upgrade and to what extent?

Football stadium: is expansion on the docket? Doubtful for now. New video screens are needed desperately but this is already in the works, BCS money or no. Hopefully they do it right and go big on those babies. The current ones are a disgrace.

Indoor football practice facility: this is basically brand new

Marriott Center: upgrades inside would be nice, including changing the seating colors. WTF were they thinking with that mustard yellow color scheme?

Hoops practice facility: isn't Rose clamoring for some new practice digs? where would they build it?

Baseball/softball: isnt that facility fairly new? It looks really nice from the outside.

Soccer: South Field is really cool. Not much to do there except maybe make the seating a bit less bleacher and more chair oriented.

weight room: i have no clue. what is the state of the weight room at BYU? Is it in dire need of upgrades? I thought they build out some new stuff with the practice facility?

Smith Fieldhouse: while it would be nice to modernize that old barn, I love the antique vibe there, esp for v-ball. If they re-do it, hopefully they can retain that intimate old school feel it has going for it.

RB: should be completely demolished and re-done to eliminate that 70s thing going on there. The small tiled walls make you feel like you are walking around in a baptismal font or something.

Y Mountain: something permanent that makes lighting the Y as simple as flipping a switch. BYU needs to light that thing frequently.

other sports: doesnt matter.

[dabrockster]

Which facilities does BYU need to upgrade and to what extent?

Football stadium: is expansion on the docket? Doubtful for now. New video screens are needed desperately but this is already in the works, BCS money or no. Hopefully they do it right and go big on those babies. The current ones are a disgrace.

Indoor football practice facility: this is basically brand new

Marriott Center: upgrades inside would be nice, including changing the seating colors. WTF were they thinking with that mustard yellow color scheme?

Hoops practice facility: isn't Rose clamoring for some new practice digs? where would they build it?

Baseball/softball: isnt that facility fairly new? It looks really nice from the outside.

Soccer: South Field is really cool. Not much to do there except maybe make the seating a bit less bleacher and more chair oriented.

weight room: i have no clue. what is the state of the weight room at BYU? Is it in dire need of upgrades? I thought they build out some new stuff with the practice facility?

Smith Fieldhouse: while it would be nice to modernize that old barn, I love the antique vibe there, esp for v-ball. If they re-do it, hopefully they can retain that intimate old school feel it has going for it.

RB: should be completely demolished and re-done to eliminate that 70s thing going on there. The small tiled walls make you feel like you are walking around in a baptismal font or something.

Y Mountain: something permanent that makes lighting the Y as simple as flipping a switch. BYU needs to light that thing frequently.

other sports: doesnt matter.

I would LOVE to see BYU bring back Wrestling once they join the Big 12. Going against OU, OSU, ISU, etc would be sweet every year...

I can dream...

[NorthwestUteFan]

A little nit-picking...if we were "true" champ caliber team in '84, then we were also in '83, since that team was better (according to Lavell, etc).

Not that it matters to any of you, but I agree with Lavell. Despite the 1 loss to a decent Baylor team, 1983 was a stellar year. They beat UCLA, Bowling Green, Air Force, and Missouri, all of whom were ranked higher than everybody they beat in 1984.

1984 was almost an afterthought by comparison, as their best win was against Hawaii.

Those were some special years for the state as far as football goes.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Which facilities does BYU need to upgrade and to what extent?

Football stadium: is expansion on the docket? Doubtful for now. New video screens are needed desperately but this is already in the works, BCS money or no. Hopefully they do it right and go big on those babies. The current ones are a disgrace.

Indoor football practice facility: this is basically brand new

Marriott Center: upgrades inside would be nice, including changing the seating colors. WTF were they thinking with that mustard yellow color scheme?

Hoops practice facility: isn't Rose clamoring for some new practice digs? where would they build it?

Baseball/softball: isnt that facility fairly new? It looks really nice from the outside.

Soccer: South Field is really cool. Not much to do there except maybe make the seating a bit less bleacher and more chair oriented.

weight room: i have no clue. what is the state of the weight room at BYU? Is it in dire need of upgrades? I thought they build out some new stuff with the practice facility?

Smith Fieldhouse: while it would be nice to modernize that old barn, I love the antique vibe there, esp for v-ball. If they re-do it, hopefully they can retain that intimate old school feel it has going for it.

RB: should be completely demolished and re-done to eliminate that 70s thing going on there. The small tiled walls make you feel like you are walking around in a baptismal font or something.

Y Mountain: something permanent that makes lighting the Y as simple as flipping a switch. BYU needs to light that thing frequently.

other sports: doesnt matter.

I would love to see a huge HD replay screen at LES similar to the one at Texas. That thing was unbelievable.

[NorthwestUteFan]

Which facilities does BYU need to upgrade and to what extent?

Football stadium: is expansion on the docket? Doubtful for now. New video screens are needed desperately but this is already in the works, BCS money or no. Hopefully they do it right and go big on those babies. The current ones are a disgrace.

This is the type of thing I was talking about in bringing up the increased funds that come with an AQ conference affiliation, and why dollars matter. Throwing a 'newly acquired' couple of million at some video screens is an item that will GREATLY enhance the overall fan experience. A set of screens similar in size and capability to those in Jerryworld would be awesome, both at LES and RES.

[TripletDaddy]

This is the type of thing I was talking about in bringing up the increased funds that come with an AQ conference affiliation, and why dollars matter. Throwing a 'newly acquired' couple of million at some video screens is an item that will GREATLY enhance the overall fan experience. A set of screens similar in size and capability to those in Jerryworld would be awesome, both at LES and RES.

BYU is already doing this without AQ funds. BYU also has a new baseball and softball facility, new soccer facility, new indoor practice facility, a 65k football stadium and 22K basketball arena without AQ funds.

No wonder you are so excited. Utah can finally start catching up to BYU.

[Coach McGuirk]

I would love to see a huge HD replay screen at LES similar to the one at Texas. That thing was unbelievable.

I have heard they are putting in a 100 foot wide one on the north endzone after the season is over.

For reference, Godzillatron is 134 wide.

[TripletDaddy]

I have heard they are putting in a 100 foot wide one on the north endzone after the season is over.

For reference, Godzillatron is 134 wide.

I like the style of the new one SC just put in.

For Ute fans that made the trek, how was the video screen in person?

[Sizzle]

weight room: i have no clue. what is the state of the weight room at BYU? Is it in dire need of upgrades? I thought they build out some new stuff with the practice facility?

Weight room was updated for the football (and I believe basketball) teams with the construction of the Student Athlete Building. The weightroom is in the Northeast corner and looks out onto the football practice field. I believe it takes up the first and second floors. IMO, it is definitely BCS worthy.

[NorthwestUteFan]

BYU is already doing this without AQ funds. BYU also has a new baseball and softball facility, new soccer facility, new indoor practice facility, a 65k football stadium and 22K basketball arena without AQ funds.

No wonder you are so excited. Utah can finally start catching up to BYU.

I stated as much above. Utah needs AQ funds and increases from donors to come up with stuff like that while byu historically was able to shuffle the accounting books to get the church to pay for improvements. Church or State, in the end it all comes down to whose teat you suckle and how politically expedient the improvements are(whether at 350 N. State St or at 50 E. North Temple St the issue is similar).

And it isn't exclusively 'catching up to byu' so much as it is greatly improving the overall game viewing experience to meet what is becoming the norm nationwide.