BYU's future up in the air after Utes' departure

PROVO ?— Now that Utah is officially leaving the Mountain West Conference for the prestigious and opulent Pac-10, where does that leave BYU? What's next for the Cougars?

Try to make the best of things in its current conference? Lobby for an invitation to an automatic qualifying BCS conference, like the 10-team Big 12? Go independent?

Rondo Fehlberg, who was the Cougars' athletic director from 1995-1999, has dealt with similar questions before. He helped lead BYU's exodus from the failed 16-team Western Athletic Conference and was involved in the creation of a new conference, the Mountain West. During that period, he looked at every imaginable option that would serve the school's best interests.

For now, current BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe isn't talking publicly about Utah's jump to the Pac-10 or the Cougars' long-term future.

Fehlberg understands the challenge the athletic department is facing in light of the conference realignment that has occurred in recent weeks, including the Utes' departure.

"It's going to be a whole new ballgame," Fehlberg said. "I wish we could put the genie back in the bottle. But we can't."

The Cougars will be proactive about their position, Fehlberg said, but within reason.

"There's no question that BYU will always be looking to see what it can do to increase the economic viability of its competitive situation without compromising in any way values which, for BYU, are not negotiable. That's one thing that makes BYU a little bit different. Some things are not negotiable. (Not playing on Sunday) being the most dramatic example."

So what would Fehlberg do if he were sitting in the BYU A.D. chair now?

"I'm sure Tom and his staff are working with the administration to do all of the things I'd think of doing, which would include making sure you communicate as effectively as possible with all of the players in this whole arena. I'd be talking to the Big 12, I'd be making sure that I understood just what their bottom-line numbers are. I'd make sure I understood exactly what I could bring to the table. The fact is, if each piece of the expected 10-piece pie is not larger than a 12-piece pie that BYU could present to them, they're not going to (invite BYU). I would have an awful lot of homework to do, to sit down and figure all of that out."