Comments about ‘Behind the Mic: Standing alone would be nothing new at BYU’

Great article Greg!

What most are forgetting is that Texas changed the rules. Independence makes a lot more sense for the big revenue producing teams like Texas, USC and even FL and Ohio State.

The super conferences cause ESPN to over pay. It makes a better business model for them to make a separate arrangement with the biggest and best of the TV teams and give crumbs to the teams dependent on a conference.

ND is doing quite nicely with it's NBC contract. BYU is not ND but Texas and USC could be if they choose to. It may make sense in the future for the big revenue teams for force special revenue considerations or go independent.

That reduces the money going to the other teams in the conferences.

There will be more conference changes coming and more negotiation of Texas like arrangements for big TV revenue teams.

What I want to know is how much Greg Wrubell actually knows. Im sure a gag order is in place. we will find out soon enough

Exposure for the football team at the expense of every other student-athletes at BYU? Is that representative of the values Wrubell is talking about?

How much institutional integrity is BYU willing to compromise to get what it wants?

Great objectivity, Greg. So, if BYU's program is so great, why do they have to choose between staying in a 'have not' conference or going independent - a strategy that has failed for nearly everybody who has attempted it? Ask Penn State or Florida State about how life as an independent.
Notre Dame has barely made it work WITH the help with the Big East and NBC.

Face it. This was just a poorly executed knee-jerk reaction. BYU is not going to go independent and have their basketball team associated with the likes of Portland or San Francisco, playing in gyms.

And the fact that they're even talking about doing something that LaVell himself said would not be prudent, is because the Utes actually played their cards right and are in the money. BYU hasn't been nationally relevant since 1997. Even now, with Boise in the MWC, BYU is the THIRD best program in the 'have not' conference, as they haven't sniffed a BCS bowl game. Who cares about winning 43 games in four years when none of them mattered?

Too bad for BYU, they are actually drinking your kool-aid. And their plan back-fired.

There are two possibilities: either it will work or it won't. If it works, it will be a great feather in the cap of BYU and they will come out ahead. If it doesn't, both the WAC or MWC would be glad to have them back. Nothing lost. It's a win-winn situation.

Personally, I'm a very conservative person and am anxious about how it will turn out. But people a lot smarter than I (and everybody on this board) have looked into it.

It certainly isn't a knee-jerk reaction as expressed by superjerk, but a well-calculated one. His stupid remark about winning "43 games means nothing" would be laughed at by every coach in this country, the vast majority of whom aren't even close to that winning percentage, and who would sell their mother to be that successful.

Way to go Greg. The Cougars control their destiny, not TUN. There may be more things in play shortly than just the MWC and WAC. BYU's playing the independence card just might bring new suitors to the table.

In fact, BYU has already prompted FSU and UNR to join the MWC. With BYU, the MWC is now just 1 more team away from a 12-team league, BCS and national network coverage.

Superute... why do you care? Go follow your team-- you know, the one Sports Illustrated so appropriately identified as the, "team with a tradition that dates back to 2004." lol!!!

Superude,
Don't preoccupy yourself with BYU so much. They will be fine. Life goes on regardless of conference alignments, TV contracts, and Bowl affiliations. Even if BYU football were to sink into oblivion, the school will still focus on what it was built to do. Which is to educate students in a spiritual environment. That's what they did before 1972, and that's what they've done since.

Great article, very objective, Greg, quoting factual numbers and reasoning beyond emotional "knee-jerk" reactions such as "superute" just gave us...the Y beats the U every time, because they have a moral compass that goes beyond wins and losses...so I guess beating Utah in football 3 of the last 4 years is included in the 43 Y has won when "none of them mattered?" Higher Education Institutions really miss the boat when they cannot provide intelligent application, are "forever learning" but never coming to a knowledge of the truth, because they do not insist upon the application of it to real life.

I have never been more disgisted with BYU in my life than now. Where's the common sense and the leadership? I'll find it very hard to give that alumni donation this year. I feel like I've been punched in the gut to see BYU so helplessly ruderless.

EIther way, the mwc is going to get ugly, even with bsu and tcu.

byu is saling their mother and other sports programs down teh river- who has the morals "monsieur le prof" TDS was crying that utah wnet fo rthe money nad was so wrong- well what is byu trying to do then? And big 12 did not want you so where doyou go? wrong move- try and be better- 43 wins and no national exposure- nice-lol

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

The move to go independent is awesome!! The reason it will work is because BYU has a national following, as does Notre Dame, Army, and Navy. It did not work for Penn State or Florida State because they do not have national followings. With this shakeup, maybe that will convince Air Force to do the same and join its Army and Navy neighbors.

I hope that they do go independent. They have been one of the anchors of the Mountain West since inception, and the WAC before that.

DO IT!!

At the very least, we will be able to see the games! Finally an opportunity to see all the games!

Critics love to compare BYU and Notre Dame fan bases and say they aren't comparable... and it's true. David and Goliath. But, BYU's huge advantage over every program in the nation... its own HD-TV network. Instant exposure to increase fandom, increase exposure to potential recruits and fulfill the mission of the university... which is to give proper exposure to the LDS faith.

As to scheduling, because of the TV network it can easily fill the schedule with teams it is already playing because they too want the exposure and, to cap it off, when BYU plays UNLV, SDSU, CSU, and UNM, they more than double their home gate intake.

BYU has the needed clout and reputation right now to attract Texas, OU and others who win in the BCS and that won't change.

The other sports will be fine. More exposure, again, means better chance of landing the recruits they want.

Don't be surprised if a BCS tie in is announced fairly soon.

Any whining by Ute fans at this point would mean they are "jealous?"

In truth both schools might be better off. Congrats to both.

Once again, byu sees to it that Utah State is buried even deeper into obscurity.

"It is the only program that incorporates a two-year church missionary program as part of its intrinsic structure."

What, exactly, does that mean? Utah State, Utah and Weber State are all more than accommodating for LDS missionaries. Pac-10 schools and even Notre Dame have gotten the picture, and are holding scholarships for LDS players who want to serve missions. The days of having to play at BYU if you want to serve a mission are long gone.

All I keep hearing is the great national exposure it would give BYU if they go independent but do you realize that outside of the four or five million mormons around the country nobody cares about BYU football!!