The Independent Expansion Groundswell

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Watch Oregon beg Uncle Phil for one. You just watch.

We don't have to beg Uncle Phil for anything. In fact he is building new football facilities as we speak, he'll probably throw 2 HD trucks into the deal just for fun.

[Art Vandelay]

I selfishly would prefer the WCC. I also think it would be a much stronger basketball conference than the WAC and close in upper end strength to the MWC

[SoonerCoug]

Gonzaga
LMU
Pepperdine
Portland
Saint Mary's
San Diego
San Francisco
Santa Clara
BYU

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Gonzaga
LMU
Pepperdine
Portland
Saint Mary's
San Diego
San Francisco
Santa Clara
BYU

We'd always be first when listed alphabetically!

[RC Vikings]

This is a mess. They must have a firm commit from the Big 8 to do this.

[Maximus]

Gonzaga
LMU
Pepperdine
Portland
Saint Mary's
San Diego
San Francisco
Santa Clara
BYU

Some real powerhouses. If we divided up all the fans from a sold out marriot center and filled all those stadiums, we would still have some left over

[SoonerCoug]

The vote was unanimous among MWC members to invite Nevada-Reno and Fresno State into the conference.

There you have it. Survival of the WAC was irrelevant to BYU.

[CardiacCoug]

I would ask Craig Thompson whether or not BYU voted for inviting Nevada and Fresno State.

Of course he would refuse to answer.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Some real powerhouses. If we divided up all the fans from a sold out marriot center and filled all those stadiums, we would still have some left over

Basketball isn't about attendance, I've read this a few times today about the small gyms some teams play in. Who cares? Duke holds less than 9000, USC just built a brand new stadium and it only holds 10,000.

[statman]

They aren't the only ones grasping at straws. Watching you work the last day or two in these threads I can't figure out who you are trying to convince that Independence isn't an awful option all of us, or yourself.

Independence will mean serious $$$ for BYU. Multiples of what they get now. I don't need convincing. It's as plain as day. This is a good thing.

The only risk I see is in long-term over or under scheduling. Too hard and you lose too many games like ND has done in the past. Too easy and you look weak - like ND has in the past.

The good thing is that BYU will have ESPN behind it on about 4 games a year, and ESPN has the clout to arrange games in a 1-2 year time frame and not the 3-5 years that most teams generally do their OOC games. 1-2 years out it's going to be easier to avoid over-/under-scheduling. And it's really only those 4 ESPN games that are going to matter in determining whether BYU is 'good enough'

[Maximus]

The vote was unanimous among MWC members to invite Nevada-Reno and Fresno State into the conference.

There you have it. Survival of the WAC was irrelevant to BYU.

Or he lied.

[YOhio]

Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine a day when we would be looking at joining forces with the WCC as a positive step. I had to google the WCC a few hours ago just to get the acronym right.

[landpoke]

The vote was unanimous among MWC members to invite Nevada-Reno and Fresno State into the conference.

There you have it. Survival of the WAC was irrelevant to BYU.

Or maybe BYU already gave notice and was not allowed to participate in the vote. I'm intrigued by the Portland-BYU match-up. If I can manage to stay up that late I might have to check it out.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

The good thing is that BYU will have ESPN behind it on about 4 games a year,

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. One of the arguments the pro-Mtn crowd made against not going back to ESPN a few years ago.

[landpoke]

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. One of the arguments the pro-Mtn crowd made against not going back to ESPN a few years ago.

Dude, 1 Gazillion dollars.