BYU football: Cougars keeping mum about WAC rumors

PROVO — Amid the swirling rumors that BYU is going independent in football, associate athletic director Duff Tittle said there's "not much we can say right now."

Tittle referred to comments made by athletic director Tom Holmoe last month, when Holmoe said that BYU is examining all of its options in regard to the future of its athletic department.

"We're looking into everything. Nothing's changed," Tittle said Wednesday morning. "We've been looking at our options for years. We're looking into every possible angle. There's nothing more to say."

According to Internet reports, including one from ESPN.com's Andy Katz, BYU is strongly considering leaving the Mountain West Conference and becoming independent in football, with all other sports joining the Western Athletic Conference in 2011.

A news conference, according to reports, is scheduled for Thursday.

Asked if there is a news conference planned, Tittle replied, "Not that I'm aware of. If or when we have an announcement — tomorrow, next week, next year or two years from now, we'll let everyone know."

The firestorm of speculation began late Tuesday night when Colorado State University's Twitter account reported that BYU was jumping to the WAC and that BYU would hold a news conference to announce the move Thursday. CSU officials say their Twitter account was hacked into and that they did not send out that tweet.

"That's where all of this is generating from," Tittle said.

A CSU official called Tittle and "apologized profusely."

e-mail: jeffc@desnews.com