BYU bolts - snubs both MWC and WAC

B

beaverdaleguy

Well-Known Member
BYU to leave Mountain West Conference, join West Coast Conference in all sports except football - ESPN

Per ESPN, BYU going independent in football regardless of non-preferential treatment from BCS. No special auto-bid to a BCS bowl like Notre Dame. THey were going to join the WAC for other sports, but then the MWC grabbed Fresno and Nevada-Reno, weakening the future of the WAC.

Now BYU will join the WCC, a small and mainly basketball oriented conference, with the likes of Gonzaga, St Marys (who comes off of a nice Sweet 16 berth) and UC-Santa Barbara, the powerhouse of Central California (insert sarcasm here).

Personally, I see it as a good step for their basketball program, but a step backwards for their institution. Best of luck to them, and I hope they don't complain too loudly when their football team schedules Washington State, Idaho Tech, and Chico State (who I'm not sure even has a football team) and doesn't make it to the BCS with a 12-0 record. :) THe good news is that the Holy War is able to continue, which may have been a deciding factor all along, as Utah joins the Pac-soon to be 12 soon.
 
beaverdaleguy said:
BYU to leave Mountain West Conference, join West Coast Conference in all sports except football - ESPN

Per ESPN, BYU going independent in football regardless of non-preferential treatment from BCS. No special auto-bid to a BCS bowl like Notre Dame. THey were going to join the WAC for other sports, but then the MWC grabbed Fresno and Nevada-Reno, weakening the future of the WAC.

Now BYU will join the WCC, a small and mainly basketball oriented conference, with the likes of Gonzaga, St Marys (who comes off of a nice Sweet 16 berth) and UC-Santa Barbara, the powerhouse of Central California (insert sarcasm here).

Personally, I see it as a good step for their basketball program, but a step backwards for their institution. Best of luck to them, and I hope they don't complain too loudly when their football team schedules Washington State, Idaho Tech, and Chico State (who I'm not sure even has a football team) and doesn't make it to the BCS with a 12-0 record. :) THe good news is that the Holy War is able to continue, which may have been a deciding factor all along, as Utah joins the Pac-soon to be 12 soon.
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The WCC made the most sense for them, as many of the schools in the that conference are religous schools like BYU (Gonzaga is a Jesuit school).
 
The WCC doesnt accept public schools and while they aren't necessarily, "faith based' in their doctrine and admissions guidelines, it would have to be a very well off private school not connected to some faith to get in, like Stanford. So yes, they are the Big East of the West, without the few public schools who can make them competative.
 
The MWC is a much better BBall conference. This whole decisions seems completely stupid.
 
ShadasRevenge said:
That remains to be seen. Basketball wise, Gonzaga is easily on par with, if not better than, any school in the MWC.
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Agreed, but that is like comparing a BCS conference in football to the WAC. Boise St is on par with if not better than any school in the ACC, yet the conferences on the whole cannot be campared.
 
seems like a fit

MWC can get Utah St and some Texas school (SMU? UTEP?) to get to 12 so they can have a championship game
 
H8IAST8 said:
Agreed, but that is like comparing a BCS conference in football to the WAC. Boise St is on par with if not better than any school in the ACC, yet the conferences on the whole cannot be campared.
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We shall see about this come BSU vs. VTech time.
 
This move was all about football while ensuring the other sports had a soft landing spot. The WCC made sense because the future of the WAC is not too bright. BYU will now compete with Gonzaga for the WCC crown every year in hoops.

For football, this makes a ton of sense. The Mountain West has a HORRENDOUS tv contract. Their decision to snub ESPN and create the mtn several years back was a terrible one. Versus and CBS College Sports are their other 2 networks and both have distribution problems on both cable and satellite systems (not to mention the mtn is on very few cable and satellite packages).

So nobody sees their games anymore. BYU will get their own tv package with ESPN and their home grown BYU-TV. This will allow them to compete with Utah financially, which was about to dwarf BYU in revenue with the move to the Pac 10.
 
One has to wonder if this isnt the straw that breaks the BCS.
If BYU has a perfect or near perfect season and they dont get a BCS bid, the Senator from Utah will drag them up the hill.
Its the BCS's own dumb fault for giving ND preferential treatment.
 
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