An Independent BYU will Destroy the Mountain West

This a great conference on the rise, and if BYU decides to bolt it will screw it all up. I’d be sad to see such a great conference just die like that, when just a few months ago a BCS invite was all but mailed.

At the end of the conference expansionpalooza I thought the MWC came out quite nicely. Now it looks like the MWC could get just as easily be torn apart…

Truthfully though, I really don’t think has as much validity as everyone thinks. BYU would be better off staying in the MWC and hoping for the auto bid to come in 2011. If that happens, then BYU gets 4 or 5 million dollars a year instead of the 1 or 2 they would make being independent. If they don’t get the auto bid 2 years from now, then it makes more sense to go independent and WAC at that point.

If BYU announces on August 31, Boise won’t have time to make a decision. That’s the least BYU could do for the MWC.

TCU might go back to CUSA with their tail between their legs, but they are NEVER EVER GOING TO THE BIG 12. There is absolutely ZERO incentive for the Big 12, no matter how many games the Frogs win. Unless they win 2 national titles in the next two years, they’ll be outside forever.

I disagree with your assumption that C-USA is a better home than a rebuilt WAC in your scenario. In fact I’d argue that adding TCU and Houston and even UTEP to the WAC makes it even more viable.

Except then you are right back at the 16 team conference that broke apart in the first place.

I think the best conference that could be made from the remains would be

Colorado State
New Mexico
TCU
Houston
Air Force
UNLV
Wyoming
UN-Reno
Fresno St
San Diego St
Boise St
Hawaii

However, even that is not without problems. Idaho, Utah St, New Mexico St, SMU and San Jose St all with natural tie-ins to teams listed are left out.

And…conferences are not formed in a vacuum. The WAC locked their schools down from leaving with a $5million dollar buy out. There are too many trash teams in the WAC for the Mtn West teams to all go over (yes, I think the bottom of the MWC is better than the bottom of the WAC)

Fact 1: BYU Athletic Department denies it. Not surprising, everyone denies news that they don’t want coming out prematurely. However, their associate AD says there isn’t even a press conference scheduled which was part of the original report. He’s "playing golf" today, which by his own admission he would definitely not be doing the day before a major press conference.

Fact 2: CSU claims thier twitter account was hacked. This is really what started this whole buzz so if this is true go ahead and put this whole thing to bed right now.

Fact 3: Bronco Mendenhall says “I am not in the loop regarding anything. ….So if there is anybody, my guess is — and again, if there is — it is [athletic director] Tom Holmoe or [Associate AD for Communications] Duff Tittle. That would be where I would go. I have no idea what you are talking about.” If Bronco doesn’t know about it, it isn’t happening. The football coach has quite a bit of sway at the Y. Consider that Gary Crowton in his day got BYU to change their logo and wear the infamous "bib" uniforms. They made even Oregon look good in those unis. If the school will change their logo and uni for a bad coach, there’s no way they change conferences without his knowledge.

Fact 4: The sources being touted around are from a ‘person from Utah State with knowledge of the situation.’ FACT: There never has been, nor ever will be a person inside of USU with knowledge of what BYU is doing. BYU doesn’t even consider USU its little brother, more like an ugly second cousin better off avoided at family parties. If Bronco doesn’t know, there is roughly a -300% chance that some douche from USU knows something.

Fact 5: WAC officials are saying "No comment." DUH! BYU going to the WAC even without football would be a huge bonus for them. So if anyone is saying it might happen they’re not going to open their big mouths and deny it. They’re doing now exactly what the MWC was doing when the possibility seemed to be opening up for them to land Kansas and Missouri. They’re just waiting and hoping that somehow it happens.

Conclusion: This is all probably just the typical rumor mongering by the press set off by USU students hacking the CSU Twitter account and trying to bring any spotlight they can to the pathetic WAC. A more fitting name has never been devised for a conference. Admittedly I could be wrong, I mean I don’t have any ‘sources’ inside Utah State, but I really don’t see this happening right now. They might do it in the future, but I think it’s too early for them to do it.

that this “sky is falling” scenario didn’t take place…MWC looks to be coming out of this just fine…even if BYU goes independent. May not be in line for an automatic BCS bid, but certainly still very competitive, and in better shape than any other mid-major conferences out there.