BYU Goes Independent

[Cody]

Brigham Young University will leave the Mountain West Conference for the 2011-12 season, go independent in football and join the West Coast Conference in all other sports, most notably men's basketball.

The WCC confirmed the addition of BYU effective June 30, 2011, on Tuesday but said neither it nor BYU would comment until a news conference scheduled for Wednesday.

BYU had originally agreed to go to the Western Athletic Conference in all sports and go independent in football before the MWC squelched the move by inviting WAC members Fresno State and Nevada two weeks ago.

BYU had until Wednesday to notify the MWC if it was going to leave for the 2011-12 season.

The WCC held a conference call Monday with all eight presidents to approve the move. WCC presidents wanted only private institutions in the league and weren't interested in any other WAC member. The WCC wasn't limiting its search to only faith-based schools, but BYU does fit the profile since the other eight members are all faith-based universities and colleges. When WCC commissioner Jamie Zaninovich first arrived at the WCC in April 2008, he had looked into adding Big West members Pacific (private) and UC Santa Barbara but the moves were rejected, notably for including a public school.

BYU has worked out a football schedule for the 2011 season that will likely include at least two WAC members -- traditional rival Utah State and a previously scheduled series against Hawaii, which was in the WAC with BYU for decades.

BYU had worked out a scheduling agreement with the WAC for football prior to the initial deal blowing up two weeks ago. That schedule had BYU playing six WAC teams -- Utah State, Hawaii, Nevada, Fresno State, New Mexico State and San Jose State. On Monday, WAC commissioner Karl Benson demanded that Fresno State and Nevada remain in the WAC for the 2011-12 season since both schools failed to notify the league of an intention to leave prior to a July 1 deadline, meaning the Cougars may still play some of these schools on an independent football schedule.

BYU is working on an agreement with ESPN to televise its games and flesh out its football schedule, according to sources. BYU has already scheduled nonconference games with Oregon State and Texas for the coming years and has lined up a series with Boise State, which is joining the MWC after this season in the WAC. And since BYU is leaving the MWC, the Boise State game will become a nonconference game.

BYU is going independent in football with the full knowledge that it won't be guaranteed a seat at the BCS table. BYU will be an independent like Army and Navy, not like Notre Dame, which is guaranteed a BCS bid if it's in the top eight in the final BCS standings.

Adding BYU is a major coup for the WCC, which is expanding to nine teams and adding a new member for the first time in 30 years, when it added San Diego and Gonzaga. The WCC will increase its 14-game men's basketball schedule to a true round-robin 16-game schedule for the 2011-12 season. The WCC will have to move the dates of its conference tournament, at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, since the semifinals have traditionally been held on Sunday and the final on Monday. BYU is not allowed to play on Sundays.

The WCC now has a major presence in Spokane, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; San Francisco-Oakland; Los Angeles; and Salt Lake City.

"This transforms the league with one move," said one source with knowledge of the situation.

BYU enters the league in men's basketball as a major player and joins perennial NCAA team Gonzaga as well as recent NCAA-bid challenger Saint Mary's, fresh off a Sweet 16 appearance, at the top of the conference. The three-team top tier of Gonzaga, BYU and Saint Mary's should challenge a number of conferences like the MWC, the A-10 and C-USA that are outside the power six for top-three elite teams.

BYU has been to 25 NCAA tournaments, including four straight under Dave Rose. The Cougars knocked off Florida in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season.

If Benson gets his wish and Nevada and Fresno State have to stay in the WAC for the 2011-12 season, then the MWC would have just eight members: new arrival Boise State, as well as Colorado State, San Diego State, TCU, UNLV, New Mexico, Wyoming and Air Force. Utah is leaving the MWC after this season to join the Pac-12 (formerly Pac-10) with fellow newcomer Colorado.

The MWC would then add Nevada and Fresno State in 2012-13 to become a 10-team league -- but with a gaping hole in the region since there would be no member in the state of Utah, a sizable market.

"We look forward to the future with great excitement -- particularly welcoming recent additions Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada into the Mountain West," MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said in a statement.

 

[padman59]

Poor Boise St

Sucks, but at least they add TCU to the top end of their conference slate.

 

[G-men]

Boise State should have just waited before they moved. now theyve lost Utah and BYU.

 

[SuperKevin]

BYU may have made the WCC the premiere mid major conference in basketball.

 

[G-men]

BYU may have made the WCC the premiere mid major conference in basketball.

i would still say the A-10 is

 

[CaribbeanJoseph]

Haha fuck Boise

 

[BroncoBlue]

MWC is still better in basketball then the WAC and WCC. UNLV, Nevada, UNM, SDSU and Bosie all have respectable programs. Not to mention the MWC can always add UTEP and/or NMSU.

BYU is retarded no one is gonna watch them or get that BS religious channel, where they will show their games. Plus they are going to have to play some better teams with an independent schedule to prove any relevance. I mean really a huge school like Notre Dame with NBC backing them has recently considered joining a conference.

If BYU doesn't get an invite to the Pac-12 in the next 5 years that program will be begging to get back in the MWC.

MWC shouldn't worry much about football the conference is still competive and with the recent additions of some good teams like Nevada and Fresno, Bosie and TCU will have there hands full. Hell even a team like CSU is building something nice. CSU is already better then big 12/pac-12 rival CU.

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[ram29jackson]

MWC is still better in basketball then the WAC and WCC. UNLV, Nevada, UNM, SDSU and Bosie all have respectable programs. Not to mention the MWC can always add UTEP and/or NMSU.

BYU is retarded no one is gonna watch them or get that BS religious channel, where they will show their games. Plus they are going to have to play some better teams with an independent schedule to prove any relevance. I mean really a huge school like Notre Dame with NBC backing them has recently considered joining a conference.

If BYU doesn't get an invite to the Pac-12 in the next 5 years that program will be begging to get back in the MWC.

MWC shouldn't worry much about football the conference is still competive and with the recent additions of some good teams like Nevada and Fresno, Bosie and TCU will have there hands full. Hell even a team like CSU is building something nice. CSU is already better then big 12/pac-12 rival CU.

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no, theres enough Mormons around to keep the team funded. Does this mean they play Notre dame every year now ? hahaha

 

[BroncoBlue]

They watched them already when they were in the MWC. Gonna be harder to get a bowl game now too. Add in Utah is the Pac 10 which will make it tougher for BYU to recruit in that area.

BYU is retarded... The irony in the whole thing is that BYU's greed drove themselves out of a solid conference where mid majors actually have a chance to play with the big boys.

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[CaribbeanJoseph]

It's a good move for BYU, it's high risk, high reward but I think it'll work well for them.

 

[SHOGUN]

So long MWC uber-conference.

 

[Atlas]

got ESPN to broadcast their games for 8 years and will likely play ND for 6 of those years...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5520453

PROVO, Utah -- BYU is perfectly happy with "Plan B."

Two weeks after BYU's original intention to go independent in football collapsed in a matter of hours, athletic director Tom Holmoe made the announcement Wednesday that has been haunting him for much of the last month: The Cougars are going solo in football, accepting the many risks with the hopes of greater rewards.

BYU's other sports have found a new home in the West Coast Conference, which is a non-football league and turned out to be an ideal fit after BYU's deal with the Western Athletic Conference crashed hard on Aug. 18.

"I'd say it was exhilarating, fun, hard, terrible, great -- and done," Holmoe said with a weary smile during a news conference at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Holmoe said BYU is trying to gain more exposure and immediately announced two moves that will get the Cougars some notice.

BYU and ESPN have reached an eight-year deal for the network or one of its affiliates to broadcast the Cougars' home games, which at the moment are a lot of open dates.

Holmoe said scheduling as one of just four independents in major college football was an obvious risk that BYU considered, but felt the Cougars still have enough name recognition and a large fan base that should make building a schedule without eight conference games at least a little easier.

One of the future opponents will likely be Notre Dame, which Holmoe said is working with BYU to iron out the details on a six-game deal through 2020. Another is archrival Utah, which is also leaving the Mountain West after getting an invitation to join the Pac-10 next year.

Holmoe said he has been talking with Utah athletic director Chris Hill about ways to keep the annual clash going while no longer in the same conference.

"We both are in agreement in that it's an important game to continue," Holmoe said.

The Cougars will also be without the Mountain West's guaranteed bowl spots and there will be no league title to try and win. But Holmoe said BYU will have more chances to play in the spotlight on ESPN, where BYU was once a regular when the network was still a cable newcomer.

With quarterbacks like Jim McMahon, Steve Young and many, many others launching passes on nearly every offensive play, the Cougars were good TV.

"We had a lot of exciting games. We started throwing the football before anybody else did, and so that right away created a lot of excitement," former coach LaVell Edwards said after the announcement. "ESPN was a new company and we were kind of the new kids on the block. We just kind of grew up together that way."

Edwards said he was initially leery of the independence idea until he got a call from Holmoe -- one of his former players -- on Tuesday night explaining what was being planned and why.

Holmoe's dealings over the last two weeks had been so undercover that even Edwards -- for whom the football stadium was renamed -- was out of the loop. Edwards could have likely learned whatever he wanted to know with a quick call, but said he didn't want to interfere with something the athletic department was so adamant about keeping quiet so it would hopefully go through this time.

"I'm excited about it," Edwards said. "I think it's going to be interesting to see how it goes."

BYU had a deal in place with the WAC that would have allowed the Cougars to join the league in all sports but football. It nearly happened, but the Mountain West pulled off a block by getting Fresno State and Nevada to join the MWC. The invitations were extended and accepted within the same day, leaving the Mountain West protected if BYU did depart and not giving the Cougars much of a destination if they chose to go before the Sept. 1 deadline.

West Coast Conference commissioner Jamie Zaninovich saw the predicament BYU was in and began talks about the Cougars coming on board the WCC. The eight conference members are all private, faith-based schools, making the league a very good match for the school owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Men's basketball coach Dave Rose said he was excited to be joining the league that includes Gonzaga and St. Mary's, but will be more excited once he's done with the Cougars' final year competing in the Mountain West.

He also noted that WCC member Loyola Marymount beat BYU in the 2005 season opener, Rose's first game coaching the Cougars.

"They're all pretty good teams," Rose said.

The WCC does not compete in track and field, swimming and softball, so there are still some BYU teams without homes. Holmoe said that is one of the many details left to resolve, one of many ahead now that BYU has committed to leaving the Mountain West, effective in June 2011.

 

[Hasselbeck]

Sucks for the MWC.. I really thought BYU would change their mind and be content with the new look 11 (and likely 12 team conference had they stayed) team conference.

The MWC will be fine though. I can see them going to their "Plan B" which is raiding Conference USA of Houston and UTEP

 

[BroncoBlue]

Sucks for the MWC.. I really thought BYU would change their mind and be content with the new look 11 (and likely 12 team conference had they stayed) team conference.

The MWC will be fine though. I can see them going to their "Plan B" which is raiding Conference USA of Houston and UTEP

That would be sweet!

I can smell a sweet Utep/UNM rivalry brewing!


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