Comments about ‘Dick Harmon: BYU, Big 12 interest draws plenty of speculation’

It's understandable that there's hesitation on the part of the Big 12 in adding BYU. Especially after dealing with Texas for all these years, the other schools are wary of adding another school known for DIVA behavior and known for not getting along at all with the other kids.

That said, the Big 12 is pretty desperate right now and needs to add anyone willing to join its dysfunctional conference. This could be BYU's only opportunity to join a BCS league.

@You shouldn't have said it.

1-You have no idea as to whether the Big 12 is "hesitant" in adding BYU or not. Nobody is talking, did even read the article?

2-You have no idea as to whether the "other" schools are "wary" of adding BYU or not. Everything I've read indicates the consensus #1 choice.

3-BYU got along just fine. It's just the fact that they won half of their Conference Championships (all sports) for over 40 years.

Of course that builds resentment. Just as Ohio St., USC, Texas/Oklahoma, Alabama, etc. are resented as the so called "Divas" of their leagues.

Every League has "Flagships" and every League has "Bottomfeeders".

If you can't see the idiocy of BYU sharing fully with a Wyoming and their 12k fans, then Karl Marx would be proud of you.

4-The Big 12 is righting their ship. I see no "desperation" on either the Big 12's part or BYU's.

They're being methodical and prudent. They are dysfunctional, I agree, they seem to have a harder time than other Conferences of accepting the Big boys vs the Coat-tailers.

Remember, the "Divas" carry most of the weight, in any Conference.

Cougs are waiting for the right deal. I think they will even share money with the Big 12 if they are able to keep BYUTV and reprodcast the games. I think if OU and UT are serious about keeping the Big 12 together, they know getting BYU is big deal. Louisville and TCU are nice, but BYU is better and they know it. If you want to show you are serious about staying together you go after the ND's Arkansas and BYU's of the world.

"...a visiting LDS apostle told a group of athletic department employees he envisioned BYU's brand could someday be as recognizable as the golden arches at McDonald's."

I'm a big Cougar fan, but I would love for this kind of silly hyperbole to stop. All the talk of national championships, Heisman trophies, millions of BYUtv viewers, etc...please guys, stop talking and just play football. It's embarrassing.

@ Idaho cougar fan

You're putting BYU in the same class as Notre Dame and Arkansas? Ha! Don't make me laugh. That's delusional.

Harmon is clueless if he thinks BYU can dictate terms to Texas and Oklahoma like they are Wyoming and Colorado State. If BYU even tries it, the Big 12 will move onto their next options. Case closed.

Honestly, I don't see why BYUtv, and for that matter the Longhorn Network, are a big deal to other schools (with the exception of Texas' plan to broadcast high school games). If you equally share Tier 1 and 2 money, and give Tier 3 and rebroadcast rights to the individual school, I really don't see a problem (both Oklahoma and Missouri have talked about starting their own networks). In fact, if you do this right, then when/if Notre Dame starts shopping for a conference, you already have a successful model which allows them to keep a big chunk of their NBC contract intact. (My guess is that the Big 10 and Big 12 are both hoping that the SEC and ACC pick apart the Big East, so that Notre Dame has to seriously consider a new conference).

Wrong! BYU has only 1 thing they can demand and that is Sunday play. They are not in a position to ask for anything else. You are wrong if you think they can tell Texas and OU what to do. Why is it so important to re-broadcast a game? most people have a DVR and if you have seen it once, who wants to see it again? What a waste of time! This may be the one and only chance the Y has to be in a BCS conference. Good luck recruiting and keeping Coach Rose around if you turn down an invite!

Sounds like Dick has been dispatched by Tom Holmoe to prepare the faithful for news that the Big 12 has declined the diva demands of the Cougar hierarchy.

I just don't know how I feel about all of this. True, the Big-12 will bring added value to all of BYU's athletic programs, but at what cost? The vast majority of alumni live in the WCC footprint. Most Cougar fans have never heard of Stillwater and Norman, little alone have any kind of relationship with the schools or their teams.

And secondly, I just don't think BYU will ever be able to get the athletes necessary to dominate in the Big-12 so we'd be in for a lot of 7-5 and 8-4 seasons with an occasional 9-3 or 10-2 thrown in. I think I'd rather be independent and play three difficult games a year along with nine winnable ones.

But again, I'm just not sure what's best for BYU or its fans.

This DNews comment board has become the feel-good religious-bashing ground for BYU haters. Seems intelligence isn't part of the equation here. There's better reading elsewhere. There's nothing left in it for me. So, g'bye!

I would rather go 7-5 in the BIG 12 than 10-2 as an Independent! Good luck explaining to a high school recruit why you turned down the BIG 12 when every school will be telling these kids BYU is not commited to playing at the highest level. Most kids will go up to the U or other schools with BCS access.

@R.Burgundy

BYUtv re-broadcasting games is a huge deal. Not every BYU fan has a deluxe college sports package, nor is there enough room for Fox sports and ESPN to broadcast all of a conferences games (I couldn't get the Kansas, Baylor, K state, games on ESPN, ESPN2, FSN, VS., FX, etc.

So, in effect, BYU wan't all of it's games televised- so the fans and haters can see them play. If some BYU games are not picked up by the Big 12 contracts, BYU should have the right to broadcast it themselves- especially since they have the means to do so (ESPN contract and BYUtv), and because a large portion of the fan base is outside the reach of KJZZ. The question may be whether BYU chooses to share BYUtv sports revenue with the opposing Big12 or non-conferece opponent. I think that would actually be a nice gesture.

Thanks for your careful thinking and explication, DH. One of your best columns.

Wow. Eastcoastcoug has signed off indefinately.

Now Whatsinitforme has said "g'bye."

Right.

I give it until Utah's next loss. They'll be back.

I thought this article was a well thought out piece and very informative. He lists all of the areas that will need to be negotiated for BYU to decide whether or not they will join the Big 12, if invited. I think that is a big if, taking into consideration the listed areas of interest BYU has in order to even consider joining. I guess we will see in due time. I can see pros and cons both ways. What I would like to see is a different kind of conference - an association rather than a conference, in which the teams play each other each year, but are loosely connected. Such teams might be: Notre Dame, BYU, Navy, Army, SMU, TCU, Air Force, etc., with their own bowl game, that has a pay out equivalent or close to the BCS bowls. If they had 10 teams, with a north/south division, they could have a playoff of the top 2 teams of each division to determine who plays in the bowl - the other team from the top 10 renked teams. It might be difficult, but it could work.

The truth is simple - We Cougar fans want to play with the big boys. Why? Because we can win. We can go 11-1, 10-2 and 9-3 year in and year out. Sure there will be off years but then there will be years that we talk about for generations (Like that September night long ago when we beat Miami). Games when Oklahoma comes to Provo and beats us senseless but then the glorious moment when we beat them on a crisp October afternoon in Norman and find ourselves with a huge smile. Opposition in all things folks.

"It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great"

The fans deserve these games. BYU also deserves these games. I would love basketball in the WCC but truth - we get Kansas - in Provo - every year.

Please get this done. Do it right and get on with Greatness.

(Oh and Ute fan - think about all the fun we will have bashing each others conference besides each other - and like it or not it is great for the state for both school to be in the big leagues).

All this talk about spreading the message/brand is fine. But I hope the admin has taken a few marketing courses and learned that focused marketing to a receptive, listening group is far more useful than advertising generically to a world that does not care.

If BYU joins the Big 12, BYU becomes a household name throughout Big 12 country. The church gets more exposure, other sports show how competitive we are, and BYU becomes "normal" in an area where LDS are not real popular (Bible belt).

We watch BYU day in and day out so we think it's already well known but the reality is most people know little about BYU and even avid sports fans just see it as an occasional one-hit wonder gimmick school. Replaying sports to the world on BYUtv may help this misunderstanding a little but having a region of the US focused on us week-in and week-out is much more valuable.

I hope the admin doesn't mess this up with some ill-perceived notion that they have any bargaining power. Say no to Sundays and yes to everything else.

Thanks for enlightening me on BYU's position. BTW, BYU is in no position to think it can make demands like these from Texas and Oklahoma or even the Big 12 for that matter. BYU is a small school that is so far removed from the Big 12 footprint and it thinks it can act like a prima dona? What arrogance! Now, I hope the Big 12 will not invite BYU. Good luck on remaining independent. Scheduling teams to play you will be a challenge.

The Big 12 will move on.

I'm guessing that most of these posters have not spent significant time living outside the Mountain time zone, but for those of us who have, exposure is a HUGE deal.
BYUtv should be a big issue. If BYU can broadcast any home games world-wide (basketball, baseball, volleyball, soccer, track, etc.) this is a huge advantage for them, not only in recruiting, but also in spreading their message. It is also very nice for those of us overseas to be able to log onto BYUtv and watch a football game rebroadcast in HDTV.

I absolutely think BYU should make these stipulations in order to join the Big 12. If the Big 12 won't accept them, I think BYU is better off not joining for now.

Additionally, the Big 12 needs to prove it is stable. There's no rush for BYU to do anything right now. The Big 12 is in a rush to save face, but both parties can wait this out for a few months and see how stable the Big 12 is. The Big 12 majorly discounted themselves recently and is under far more pressure than BYU is.

It's a buyer's market for BYU.

I, for one, will be happy when BYU officially says what they're going to do one way or the other. The problem with BYU haters is they won't open their eyes to what BYU really means to other conferences: money! They want to bash BYU and say it couldn't compete in a BCS conference all the while forgetting they were picked last to join the PAC 12 right behind Colorado....(another football juggernaut.) And to all the BYU "fans" that say they'll revolt if BYU stick with independence, I wish they'd follow through with it when it happens. BYU isn't money driven. Please re-read that last statement and get it through your noggin that BYU is doing fine, and is happy doing fine. They don't need to be the top money making program in college football. They care about operating in the black and marketing so everyone across the world can share in BYU tv. That, in my opinion, is what BYU is about. Bronco said it best when he said football isn't top priority and he was right. The sooner everyone wraps their heads around that, the better off BYU will be.

Go Cougars! I'm with you.