BYU Football Wins Its Independence

by Jeremiah Tittle

Look no further than Notre Dame football when weighing the pros and cons of going independent. Media exposure? Check. Being a part of the national college football conversation even when your quality of play on the field seldom warrants it? Check. Flexibility in scheduling to suit the school’s needs? Check. Qualifying for a BCS Bowl? Well, that’s the biggest (pay)check of all!

Yesterday, Brigham Young University announced that it would be joining the West Coast Conference for all sports except one. Football. The school’s greatest revenue generating sport will not share profits as it has announced its independence.

BYU Football has been knocking on the door of the BCS for many years only to be relegated to lackluster bowls despite its strong record in the non-BCS Mountain West Conference. Since talks of realignment strengthening in-conference competition, and in turn computer points, have fallen apart, BYU switched its strategy. They got out of Dodge!

The 2011-2012 season will be different as BYU has followed in Notre Dame’s fighting french footsteps securing control of their own destiny with respect to revenue from television contracts and potential qualification for a BCS Bowl come winter. That’s right. The same University that prohibited women from wearing jeans in the 70′s and banned Madonna CD’s in the 80′s has ventured down the road not (or rarely) taken.

From the sports fan’s point of view, how will this affect the entertainment factor? Will this cause roadtrips to be out of reach for college kids and alumni? Will other schools follow in BYU’s footsteps throwing off the cartel’s stranglehold? These questions have yet to be answered.

Independence should buy BYU flexibility, but what will the ultimate result be in terms of breaking through the opaque ceiling held steadfast by the BCS?

While the wise path follows Notre Dame, BYU will need to ensure that the University Presidents continue to receive every penny of their expected million dollar paychecks they receive as being part of the cartel. Plus, they must demostrate that this move won’t catalyze more independence and ensuing anarchy.

The bottom line is the bottom line. The BCS conferences want the system under their control to stay the way it is. Why create an equitable method to determine a champion, on the field of play, through a playoff system when it threatens the guaranteed cashflow and conference spots in all the big time bowl games each January?

Jeremiah Tittle is the Managing Editor of SportsFansCoalition.org. Reach him at Jeremiah@SportsFansCoalition.org. Apply for a position with the SFC Sportswriter Fellowship here.