From HBArnett, real politik

[MikeWaters]

BYU NEEDS MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MORE THAN MWC NEEDS BYU

For more than 25 years we have pushed for BYU to somehow, somewhere get into a more prestigious BCS conference...We don't think that anymore, especially after watching Saturday's Las Vegas Bowl...Mike Bellotti was right. He was just a year too late in saying that BYU wouldn't be able to consistently compete with the middle of the pack teams of the PAC 10...BYU simply doesn't have enough quality football players with the speed and athleticism to compete at the upper level of the Pac 10. And while BYU has some great leadership at the helm of the program, they don't have enough solid football coaches to compete. We don't have to explain that one if you watched the BYU-UCLA game. Great leaders and great examples don't always translate into sharp and bright coaching...BYU, in our opinion, is never going to a BCS game if they are in one of the BCS leagues...We know the theory that states that if BYU was a BCS member, the extra money and prestige would give recruiting a boost. We no longer buy the theory. With the new model and mantras for BYU football, membership in the Pac 10 will still not significantly increase the recruiting pool or speed and athleticism needed for the Cougars...Merry Christmas from someone who now loves the MWC!

Translation: BYU is in the best situation it will probably ever be in, and anyone who wants to rock the boat is an idiot. Bronco is an average coach who in a few years we will be required to include his middle initial when we say his name.

I agree that BYU would get roughed up in a BCS conference. But I prefer that over playing a meaningless BCS game once every 5 years.

[smokymountainrain]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

BYU NEEDS MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MORE THAN MWC NEEDS BYU



Translation: BYU is in the best situation it will probably ever be in, and anyone who wants to rock the boat is an idiot. Bronco is an average coach who in a few years we will be required to include his middle initial when we say his name.

I agree that BYU would get roughed up in a BCS conference. But I prefer that over playing a meaningless BCS game once every 5 years.

I get a kick out of the fact that somehow the 17-16 crapfest BYU put on against UCLA somehow tells us more about the program than the 38-8 thrashing of Oregon.

I'm not sure I understand the logic there.

that said, I must admit that the two punts in the 4th quarter on fourth and short deep in UCLA's territory were two of the worst calls I've seen in the last 5 years of watching football.

[jay santos]

It's the expectation. If you're only happy dominating your conference, winning conf championship half the time, and winning half your conf games by double digits every year, then you will never favor BYU getting into a BCS program. Nobody in the country does that over a long period of time. And certainly BYU will never do that.

If you look around at Colorado, Texas Tech, Arizona, Oregon, Arizona St, and Cal and like what they have, winning half their conference games on average and every five years having a great top 10 type season where they vie for conference crown, then you would be satisfied with a move to Pac 10.

I'm definitely for it.

[Goatnapper'96]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

BYU NEEDS MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MORE THAN MWC NEEDS BYU



Translation: BYU is in the best situation it will probably ever be in, and anyone who wants to rock the boat is an idiot. Bronco is an average coach who in a few years we will be required to include his middle initial when we say his name.

I agree that BYU would get roughed up in a BCS conference. But I prefer that over playing a meaningless BCS game once every 5 years.

[/I]

I have long felt that BYU fans who wanted to see BYU in a BCS conference should be careful what they wish for.

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by Goatnapper'96

[/I]

I have long felt that BYU fans who wanted to see BYU in a BCS conference should be careful what they wish for.

many of the ones who wish for BYU to be in BCS conf, hope that BYU would be on real national TV, will soon not be BYU fans.

Leaving only the intermountain true believers.

[BYU71]

Originally Posted by Goatnapper'96

[/I]

I have long felt that BYU fans who wanted to see BYU in a BCS conference should be careful what they wish for.

I have no illusions as to how well BYU would do in say the PAC10. I think we could compete at the level OSU does.

I would give up our dominance of the MWC and the inherent schedule that provides for a chance to be a OSU level in the PAC10.

[Goatnapper'96]

Originally Posted by smokymountainrain

I get a kick out of the fact that somehow the 17-16 crapfest BYU put on against UCLA somehow tells us more about the program than the 38-8 thrashing of Oregon.

I'm not sure I understand the logic there.

that said, I must admit that the two punts in the 4th quarter on fourth and short deep in UCLA's territory were two of the worst calls I've seen in the last 5 years of watching football.

I think BYU is riding a hot streak that they will not be able to contain long term. The 2006 squad was really good, for sure. I think they were that once a decade type of team that BYU has. I think BYU has a shot to be a good team once every 3 years and once every 3 times they have a good shot things work out favorably for them. By favorably, I mean no major injuries, good schedulte etc. I think BYU is likely to have more teams reminiscent of the 2007 team than the 2006 team.

I think BYU went from a great team in 2006 to a core of offensive skill players that although young are more talented that what BYU will normally get all at one time. I think Hall, Unga, Pitta and Collie are very good and normally at BYU I think you would see 2-3 max of skill players that good at the same time.

Further, I tend to think that if the 2006 team played in the Pac-10 they were likely to finish 9-3 instead of 10-2. BYU probably would play a softer OOC schedule and finished it 2-1 but there is no way I could see even that BYU team finishing a Pac-10 schedule better than 7-2.

I am not sure I agree with Bellotti that BYU couldn't be a mid tier Pac-10 team but I don't think the fanbase in general, not those who post here, understand that BYU will lose a lot more frequently. I also think Arnett hit the issue spot on, BYU isn't a normal program and the belief that BYU is going to attract better coaches and athletes with BCS affiliation is not a real sound conclusion. In fact, one can point to the LDS kids lost but IMO most of those kids are consistently going to be OL and DL and the kids BYU gets after losing those national level studs are usually not significantly worse players. I just don't see a big talent upgrade for BYU under BCS circumstances. In fact I bet that in time the losing and the reality of never being a major player causes BYU to lose more of the LDS blue chippers than they are already losing. I think the hope that BYU can be a BCS crasher from the MWC is more realistic than BYU ever winning a BCS conference championship.

But it wouldn't bother me to see BYU in a bigger conference as the excitement of 5-6 good games a year would be more fun than the excitement of 2-3 max.

[jay santos]

Originally Posted by Goatnapper'96

Further, I tend to think that if the 2006 team played in the Pac-10 they were likely to finish 9-3 instead of 10-2. BYU probably would play a softer OOC schedule and finished it 2-1 but there is no way I could see even that BYU team finishing a Pac-10 schedule better than 7-2.

I think you're a little on the pessimistic side (but pretty close), but 7-2 gets you to the Rose Bowl some years. BYU hasn't been to the Rose Bowl in the last 100 years, so if they could make it once in the next ten years by going to the Pac 10, we would be ecstatic.

[MikeWaters]

only 3 losses in conference play would be pretty good for BYU in any year in the Pac10.

[RockyBalboa]

I think BYU has legit shots for the BCS in 08' and 09'.