Comments about ‘Brad Rock: Last round of drama is courtesy of Cougars’

The WAC can add 2 teams. The basketball will do at least as well as Gonzaga and Butler as far a scheduling. The football scheduling will be easier than expected because every game will be televised and more lucrative than being in the MTN.

Most importantly BYU will break out of it's Intermountain/Pacific caccoon. It will get national exposure which in the long run will enhance recruiting, revenue and fan base.

BYU has to go this route. The MTN will never get a good TV contract and can't fullfill BYU's primary mission of bringing the Church out of obscurity.

Every BYU game in every sport will be televised to a national/international audience.

That is best for BYU. The MTN can't do that.

BSU did very well with weak schedules. BYU should do like wise.

If the MTN could let BYU do a Texas like arrangement it might make some sense to stay but probably not.

BYU will move ahead with faith, not fear and become independent. The WAC will add two other football schools to become eligible. Enough schools will WANT to play BYU to make the scheduling a minor issue.

Now that Fresno St & Nevada are gone, Who is the WAC going to get, UCSB and Long Beach? The basketball program is taking a step backwards.

I foresee an independent BYU becoming a semi-permanent fixture in the Pac-12, much like Notre Dame is in the Big Ten (12). I recall a national football writer last year saying that to BYU's credit, they "duck no one". I'm confident that BYU has enough pull on a national scale to fill up a 12-game schedule with both regional rivals in the west (Pac-12 and Big 12) and quality intersectional competitors east of the Mississippi. The challenge will be getting them to come to Provo.

WAC can add 2 more members: Eastern Washington and Northern Iowa University.

There will be no problem for BYU to schedule teams should it go independence. BYU-Hawaii should be available. And nothing wrong with Georgia Southern, Louisiana Tech, Central Michigan and Arkansas State.

Also, big brothers Utes also can play "2 in SLC, 1 in Provo" once in a while.

Good luck, Cougs!!!

Re: RJ
What? Why have you not been listening, the PAC 12 does not want you. The presidents in the PAC want no part of you and simply will not schedule you. Dream on "blue" dreamer, there is no place for you in the PAC 12 no revenue sharing and no respect.

LOL!

Oh how the once mighty have fallen. Its sad to see the current state of BYU's football program. While Utah is playing in a BCS conference, BYU will be relegated to playing third tier teams. What happened to the once might Cougars?

Craig Thompson tried to cripple BYU's plans to go independent by inviting Fresno State and Nevada to destroy the WAC.

In doing so, he may have provided even more incentive for BYU to leave the MWC and their horrible television "network".

BYU can get 3 to 4 times more than the $1.3 million the MWC pays just from a deal with ESPN to televise 4 to 6 BYU home games each year, not to mention much greater exposure and freeing up BYU's rights to television all of its remaining sports on BYUtv.

There's no guarantee that adding Fresno State and Nevada to the MWC will increase television revenue, in fact, the revenue pie may actually cit into smaller slices.

BYU can earn a bid to a BCS game just as easily as an independent as they can as a member of the MWC and ESPN would be happy to lock in a bowl-eligible BYU to one or more of its bowls based on how good of a season BYU had.

BYU is coming back to MWC.

That will be the next breaking news!

rj,

Oklahoma will NEVER come to Provo. Accept the fact that BYU will have to prove their worth playing games in the state of Texas. PERIOD. If you live in provo, get used to seeing the dredges of college football

Why would BYU sign off on Fresno and Nevada if they knew they were just going to bolt for the WAC?

It doesnt make sense. There is definitely something in the works. The WAC has other teams that have already been contacted and will be expecting to make the move in the next few days.

Remember, BYU is STILL a member of the MWC. They would have been in the meeting that signed off on these 2 teams from the WAC to move to the MWC.

There is more to the story that Im sure we will find out all about either today or tomorrow.

How delusional could you all be?? Escape your bubble and realize that the rest of the nation doesn't think nearly as highly of BYU sports as compared to the people who read the DesNews.

BYU will struggle to schedule quality opponents, making them appear to be a lower-level program, and ultimately reducing the upside bigger schools would receive by playing them.

Long story short - it's MWC or bust for BYU.

Y want to be like Boise State. Play an incredibly weak football schedule (4-6 games each year from the remaining WAC schools - Idaho, Hawaii, La. Tech, Utah State, whoever. And can you even imagine traveling to those schools for the rest of the sports? And basketball?????) Perhaps then the Y too can go undefeated and enter the BCS picture.

OR

Y want to be like Texas and hold the MWC at hostage trying to get any/all concessions and loose all credibility in the process. The Y is NOT Texas!!!!

As a Utah fan - I stand in amazement as this last development!!!! In all sincerity I wish you well.

Nice little brother. 2 in SLC and 1 in Provo will never happen and you know that. Do you think utah could ever negotiate its own deal with ESPN? NO WAY!! Get over yourself and relize you are a back up plan for the Pac who won't consider you a full partner until 2013, and that is according to the Pac 12 commissioner. Your school has no clout what so ever. BYU will pull this off, and ESPN as a partner will make sure BYU succeds, because they want it to work.

Rather than offering incentives to coax BYU back into the fold, Thompson did everything he could to sabotage BYU's move to independence by inviting Fresno State and Nevada to kill the WAC.

Since when did you become a spokesman for Oklahoma hedgeBEW?

BYU has already had programs as prominent as Oklahoma come to Provo.

Ever heard of Texas, Penn State, Miami, Florida State, Notre Dame, USC, and UCLA?

Just a few of the many big name teams that have already played in Provo.

Who moved first? Did MWC decide to invite Fresno and Reno, thus BYU deciding to go Independent, or did BYU deciding to go Independent make the MWC invite the two other teams?

BYU cleary remembers the old WAC expansion and how that was horrible financially. Expanding the MWC over 9 teams will again hurt the schools financially. The pie gets smaller. I wouldn't doubt seeing a few original MWC teams leave because of the expansion getting too large. They will go back to the WAC.

BYU, with higher TV revs, will be able to pay more to get quality opponents in Provo. It's all about money, teams don't care about coming to Provo. Just look at USC going to Hawaii...it's far but they're doing it.

Craig Thompson seems to have forced BYU's hand to go independent. Why, even with TV concessions, would BYU care to return to an also-ran conference?

Something else is driving this, and it seems that ESPN wants this to succeed. They interviewed past BYU stars to see reaction and they seem to be positioning BYU for a move like this. Give it a year or two of success and the BIG12 will want to expand, and there sits BYU, successfully independent and ready to jump right in with no delay.

Brad my neighbor friend (former 2nd ward). BYU has not said a word to any media or signed anything. Funny how this TWITTER from CSU started this and got some of you guys DN, ESPN, and others spread the whole thing. Then MWC & WAC jump the gun. I love it and maybe nothing going to be said from BYU and stay put now that we have 11 school in the MWC. Or on the other hand BYU will move on to Football Independent and other sports to WAC which is not good especially BYU basketball! Now that utah is gone and maybe why not add USU to MWC to make it 12th team which makes sense. Or should it be Hawaii and not USU - well, I don't know because of long travel to the Island and gas price. Oh I forgot, BYU don't like Hawaii hard grass and yes we better add USU!

Let me get this straight. Utah is invited to the PAC 10 along with Colorado to become the PAC 12. BYU isn’t invited by the PAC 12 or the Big XII so it decides to actually descend the ladder a little bit and rejoin the WAC, a conference it left in 1999 because it had become watered-down even by BYU standards with no-talent programs.

Brillant move by Tom Holmoe! It makes absolutely no sense and that is why it is brillant.