The Big 12 expansion groundswell

[Surfah]

Some of you guys are really upset. I see one set of footprints in the sand right now....

[creekster]

I don't think we can compare BYU's current situation to anything in CFB. It's rare to see a university choose to wallow in the midst of mediocrity and refuse an opportunity for a universal step up in conference, opponents, potential and money. Lavell era BYU always had something to prove because they were shut out of the Big Boy conferences, so fans adjusted accordingly and were able to play the victimized underdog role. Now, we have no card to play. We had the chance and blew it. Everyone knows it too and it will hurt everything; attendance, recruiting, fundraising, morale, national respect, etc. Utah will pounce on this and the gap will widen even more.

Well arent you just the little ray of sunshine this morning!

[Surfah]

The sinking feeling in my gut tells m this is true.

Yeah right apostate.

[creekster]

Some of you guys are really upset. I see one set of footprints in the sand right now....

Goatnapper's?

[YOhio]

Some of you guys are really upset. I see one set of footprints in the sand right now....

I am surprised at my own reaction. This really did piss me off and I'm so disappointed in the decision-makers at BYU.

[dabrockster]

Yup, and damn proud of it!

I could show you all my vim plugins and open source projects, if you'd like...

For an atheist your starting to grow on me..

[il Padrino Ute]

I agree with you. This notion that a better schedule is going to be a panacea over time is silly, but Ute fans and BYU fans will have to find that out for themselves, I suppose.

I can't remember sitting at many SC games thinking to myself, "wow, I am just really happy to be playing Arizona and Wazzou and the Sun Devils every year. It is so exciting!"

Winning is the solution. The opposing schedule leads to increased price tickets . If the team is losing, the attendance will drop. Look at the ticket action over the past few weeks. ASU was in town and yet there were loads of tickets online on the secondary market, the day before the game most were for face or less. Fans are not enamored with the schedule. They are bummed that the Utes stink and have QB problems.

There is a reason very few BCS schools sell out all their home games, despite playing exciting BCS schedules every year.

A little perspective here:

After watching the Utes play the likes of CSU, UNM, SDSU and BYU all these years, how can I not be excited about USC, ASU, etc.?

I'll concede that I'm not the norm here, but when I say I'm looking forward to seeing the Utes play Arizona, I mean it and I don't care that the bandwagoners will stop attending. Better for me if they don't attend, as I won't have to hear them talk about how much better Utah would be if they were the coach.

[Flystripper]

Yeah right apostate.

touche

[WashingtonCoug]

1. No BCS access unless ranked number 1 or 2. (not going to happen)
2. Horrible schedules especially home schedules.
3. Horrible Bowls
4. Less Money than Big 12 and total uncertainty once the ESPN contract is over
5. Basketball and other sports lost in the WCC

Yeah Independence will work great for destroying your athletic program in the long run.

You're judging based on year one.

[SteelBlue]

I can't remember sitting at many SC games thinking to myself, "wow, I am just really happy to be playing Arizona and Wazzou and the Sun Devils every year. It is so exciting!"

We have relatively recent data on this too. Crowton gets all the blame, but that first year that things slid downhill we had probably the toughest schedule BYU ever played. I think there were 3 undefeated teams in the country that year and we played all 3. Fans were hopping off the bandwagon in droves.

I really do think most of us here would prefer to be 2-11 in the Big 12 versus Indy. But I also think that we are outliers.

[Omaha 680]

I am surprised at my own reaction. This really did piss me off and I'm so disappointed in the decision-makers at BYU.

Me too. I said above that the anger had subsided, but reading this thread is getting me all worked up again. It is inconceivable to me that we blew this. It will take a long time to get over it.

[WashingtonCoug]

I don't get what you, Goat, and kc see that I'm not seeing that makes you think BYU goes to the Big 12. In my mind, the evidence is mounting they have no intention to do so under terms acceptable to the Big 12.

Wilner Agrees



I would love to believe that we have some master plan to try to make the Big 12 work, but it doesn't look that way. The anger has subsided but the confusion and extreme disappointment are still there for me. What are we doing?

Just be patient

[lambdacoug]

BYU had so much demand for tickets playing WAC or sub-WAC foes like Bowling Green and Long Beach State that it required 20,000 seats (50% of capacity) expansion to the stadium. Since BYU started scheduling harder opponents 1-3 times a year in 1992 they only have 3-4 years of averaging a sell out.

So if BYU were to continue to win these harder games at the current % they are winning them you would see a need for the stadium to expand by 30,000 seats (50% of current capacity) when?

Seriously, you should stop thinking before you hurt yourself. You are comparing apples to oranges and pulling numbers out of your ass. Where did you get that there was any plan to increase capacity as LES, let alone by 50%?

In case you haven't noticed, the landscape of college football has changed *significantly* since the 80s. I know this may have slipped past you, but you really should pay attention.

You also are comparing "WAC or sub-WAC" teams to Big 12 teams. That comparison is just silly. Losing to a WAC team and losing to a Big 12 team are different things, entirely. Beating a WAC team and beating a Big 12 team are also different things. If we lose to Big 12 teams, you will not see attendance drop sharply, if we lose to WAC teams you will. If we win against Big 12 teams, it will be a great boon to attendance, beating a WAC team is business as usual.

Stop shooting/hoping for mediocrity because it fills the stadium. Such a stupid hope. Do you really want to not compete against the best teams possible? Oh right, you don't because attendance might drop, my bad... What kind of mentality is that? You completely ignore the downside of independence while talking about the downside of a Big 12 invite. Seriously...

[WashingtonCoug]

Just be patient

I'm joking about that. Can we add that to the terms I hate that have been overused in BCS realignment discussions?

[kccougar]

Some of you guys are really upset. I see one set of footprints in the sand right now....

Nah, I'm right there with you.