The Independent Expansion Groundswell

[YOhio]

This makes me think that it may not be involved nearly as much as some here have suggested...

Ya' think?

[creekster]

Ya' think?

I am just trying to be gentle. you people in ohio wouldnt get that, i realize.

[Flystripper]

Here's another article on the possibility of the Big 12 folding.

http://newsok.com/berry-tramel-byus-...ad_story_title

The article does not answer my question but big Ted does. The only reason I can see for the Big 12 to blow up is if Texas joins with ND blows it up by forming their own conference. You need to remember that they would still need to fill out a 12 team conference which would be no small task. Texas is not going to go to the Pac 10 or the Big 10 or the SEC. Their opinion of themselves is too high to join somebody's existing conference especially when they wield all the power of the Big 12.

[Mormon Red Death]

Financially, in the short-to-medium term, independence is a no-brainer. The risks long-term is that scheduling becomes an issue: specifically that BYU ends up either over- or under-scheduling; that their schedule either ends up too easy or too hard, both of which would damage them long term.

In 2011 who would byu schedule for home games?

They would have 3 of the WAC teams, a Div II team. They would need two more Home games. None of the MWC is going to schedule with them so who comes to Provo next year?

[ERCougar]

Wow. I took a much-needed break from the board overnight and I come back to this....

I'm glad all of you are so excited at the new MWC--UNR and Fresno make it a conference to be reckoned with! Those Reno-Las Vegas rivalries are going to be huge! And Fresno! What a road trip! I'm sure capturing the Fresno--hell, California--and Reno markets will bring all kinds of money, exposure, and power to this conference. Brilliant move, Craig. It's tough to even think about leaving such a shrewd conference commissioner.

So yeah, our women's softball team just lost their Reno road trip. In the future, we better ask the badminton squad what they think of all future conference realignments. Hopefully, we learned our lesson.

Worst case scenario - we go to WCC for our non-revenue sports. Check that--worst case scenario is that we stay in a ridiculously weakened MWC with no guaranteed future TV contract and a much worse chance of an autobid. Our football schedule is better, we're more free to join the Big 12, we have more money, and we have more exposure.

I didn't realize we had so many softball fans.

[U-Ute]

I guarantee you Wyoming's in. Scott Van Pelt loves us.

What's not to love?

[USUC]

This situation is so confusing. From what I have heard here, from what is being reported in the media, and from what other fan bases/boards are saying, it would appear that this whole thing blew up in BYU's face. There are some things floating around that I don't understand that appear incongruent:

1 - Did BYU have anything to do with the WAC instituting the $5 million buyout?

2 - If so did BYU vote (as a member of the MWC) to allow Fresno and Nevada to join the MWC?

3 - Did BYU think this out and see any of this coming? And if so what benefit do they get out of a six team WAC and a weakened MWC with more mouths to feed?

4 - Why is Patterson appear to be pissed off by BYU but also making cryptic remarks about news he knows about that everyone else doesn't?

[Surfah]

unless conferences extend invitations like most of us decide which shirt to wear in the morning, I have to believe that BYU saw the possible moves of UNR and FSU to the MWC coming. So I am not sure this was a brilliant move by Hair T. Could he even consider extending the invitation without telling BYU at least a day or two ahead? Even if he could do so, inviting those schools without telling BYU would be a sure way to tick off BYU so much it would leave, and surely he doesn't want that does he? So I can only conclude that BYU knew ahead of its rumored move to independence. But if they did, what is the end game? I am starting to think it is possible that BYU wants concessions inside the MWC and this is how it is trying to get them.

One thing that bothe4rs me here is the notion that ESPN is so involved. If it is so involved, then it is breaching some basic rules of ethics in journalism by not reporting it. This makes me think that it may not be involved nearly as much as some here have suggested, because we haven't heard anything about it. If ESPN was pushing for this move wouldn't someone in the non-ESPN world have reported on its involvement?

ESPN spokesman Greg Humes has acknowledged discussions with BYU but has said those will remain private.

[Flystripper]

What's not to love?

Ahh yeah I remember that ...an onside kick when up 40. The bird is a touch more classy than Whitt in that instance.

[creekster]

ESPN spokesman Greg Humes has acknowledged discussions with BYU but has said those will remain private.

i hate to go all Indy on you, but link? I would like to read the statement.

[jay santos]

Adding Nevada and Fresno was a panic move to keep the MWV viable without BYU. But does it really help?

Looking at it from BYU's perspective, there is even less reason to stay in the MWC because it is a worse conference than it was yesterday. 1st of all, Nevada and Fresno don't help the conference get AQ status...they aren't even counted toward the AQ analysis because they are not joining until 2012. 2nd, as has been said, they don't add any money to the TV deal, and they take more money from the other teams.

3rd, there is no point to an 11 team conference. You can't have a championship game and you can't play a round robin schedule. And what's the point of a conference championship game? Would it be worth more than a bowl game that pays out a total of $2m?

Which is better for the MWC? Entice BYU to stay in everything but football, or, get rid of BYU completely and replace them with Fresno and Nevada? I'd say the former. But, IMO, the best scenario for MWC would have been to keep the BYU non-football sports and add only one team. That allows you to be more choosy on which team you bring in and it leaves you with the best numbers for a conference i.e. 9 in football and 10 in basketball.

In the end, is the MWC really going to lose the state of Utah entirely? Let's remember that Utah is bigger than Wyo, Ida, NV, and NM. I'd say BYU still has the strong hand and they can go independent in football and stick around in bball. USU is probably not an option. Especially if you go by the Warren Buffet rule of only buying companies that are #1 or #2 in their market.

And a little arrogance. BYU may not be the ND of the west, but we are the ND of the Mountain West.

Adding Nevada and Fresno is brilliant for the MWC. It kills the WAC, raises the competition level, and screws up BYU's decision to leave. For any institution in the MWC not named BYU it's the perfect move.

For BYU it sucks. Kills our move to the WAC and go indy idea. And if we stay, the additions make the MWC worse. Same revenue more mouths to feed. And now we have no clout in our own shitty conference. We used to be part of the Utah-BYU alliance in a 9 team MWC. Now we're alone in an 11 team conference where everyone seems to hate us.

This summer could not have gone worse.

[Surfah]

i hate to go all Indy on you, but link? I would like to read the statement.

First saw it in a Stewart Mandel tweet, but just found it here in a DesNews article.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...-WAC.html?pg=3

ESPN spokesman Michael Humes told the Deseret News that "as part of the process described in (BYU's) statement, BYU initiated a discussion with ESPN. The conversation will remain private."

[jay santos]

ESPN spokesman Greg Humes has acknowledged discussions with BYU but has said those will remain private.

I highly doubt the discussions go much further than, "if we went indy in FB, would you contract with us, and what's the ball park figure we'd get per home game".

[Uncle Ted]

My guess - either they're being completely crazy and this whole thing as blown up in their face in wasy they never anticipated (ie - this whole thing was a massive cluster-fu@#), or they really are planning on departing to the Big 12 and are trying to manage the reactions of the WAC and MWC so that both leagues remain intact upon their departure (BYU is being a good neighborly boyscout and is trying to 'leave no trace' while the MWC and WAC are out to kill each other, and in the process make BYU look bad(at least from the MWCs side that appears to be what's going on)).

Yesterday's developments REALLY were strange...

And what's up with Gary Patterson? Wow. He's way up in the canopy of the crazy tree down at TCU...

I would hope that the folks up in Provo had learned something in their years of being drafted in the BSA.

Either Gary is really giddy about the possibility of TCU making a run for a national title this year or he knows about something in the works. The guy has really been smiling a lot in his interviews lately. Also, I was surprised that TCU had raised $105M for their new stadium face lift. They only have about 75,000 living alumni according to wikipedia. How of those have deep pockets? It takes seven all-american QB's coming together to tried to raise $1M for BYU. What did they tell these TCU alumni to empty their pockets?

[Jacob]

i hate to go all Indy on you, but link? I would like to read the statement.

That was the extent of the statement. I read it on ESPN.