Big News Out of BYU??

[CONAN]

lol want to buy a bridge?

lol!

 

[CONAN]

This is the perfect rebuttal to Conan's theory that when Utah leaves, it's business as usual, but when Big, Bad, BYU decides to leave, people go hay wire.

Hey genius go back to school. It's not a theory it's a fact. It's what happened. But delusional Ute fans live in a different reality anyway so whatever.

 

[Bronco70]

CONAN - I have a few questions for you. I'm not trolling, I am truly interested in your answer.

1. Do you really believe that panic ensued solely because BYU looked like they may be packing up shop?

2. Do you think the reaction would have been the same if Utah were never going to the PAC 10, and BYU had, under those circumstances, announced it's intention to go independent?

3. Do you give any credence to the theory that the MWC panicked because they had already lost one of their flagship programs, and was unwilling to part with another in such rapid succession?

4. And lastly, do you think the MWC has always considered BYU the crown jewel of their collection?

 

[7StraightIsGreat]

Hey genius go back to school. It's not a theory it's a fact. It's what happened. But delusional Ute fans live in a different reality anyway so whatever.

LOL, you wanna talk facts? Fact is, Utah is heading to the Pac 10 and BYU is left holding their tiny dick in their hands. Sometimes facts are a bitch huh?

 

[SaltyDawg]

Hey genius go back to school. It's not a theory it's a fact. It's what happened. But delusional Ute fans live in a different reality anyway so whatever.

lol, it was not business as usual when Utah left.

First, the MWC invited Boise State, after turning them down just a few weeks prior.

Then, BYU went into full fledged panic mode and tried to join the WAC- only to get totally owned and humiliated by the MWC.

Is that business as usual in your book? And you're saying Ute fans are delusional and live in a different reality? lol, whatever.

 

[Stifle Tower]

CONAN - I have a few questions for you. I'm not trolling, I am truly interested in your answer.

1. Do you really believe that panic ensued solely because BYU looked like they may be packing up shop?

2. Do you think the reaction would have been the same if Utah were never going to the PAC 10, and BYU had, under those circumstances, announced it's intention to go independent?

3. Do you give any credence to the theory that the MWC panicked because they had already lost one of their flagship programs, and was unwilling to part with another in such rapid succession?

4. And lastly, do you think the MWC has always considered BYU the crown jewel of their collection?

I'll take on those questions.

1, 2 and 3. I agree with others who said the panic ensued because BYU was the 2nd big-time program to leave. I'm a Ute hater. I admit it. But I also admit the result would have been the same had BYU left first and then Utah announced a move to the Pac-10. And if Utah were still in the MWC, Thompson would have said, "see ya later, Cougs" and then gotten on the horn to Fresno State or Nevada.

The MWC conference would be just fine with 3 of the 4 big teams in it: Boise State, TCU and Utah or BYU. Take away the two latter teams and you not only eliminate two of the best schools in terms of football (and many other sports), you lose the entire state in terms of TV's. Now granted, the state of Utah ain't huge, but there's more people watching MWC football in Salt Lake and Provo than there are in Laramie, Fort Collins, etc.

4. There's no question BYU is the crown jewel. BYU was the driving force behind the formation of the MWC. BYU has the most viewers across the nation. However, I will admit that due to Utah getting BCS bids, and with Boise State coming aboard and adding BCS money to the pot, the importance of BYU has diminished. But really, this whole ess is Thompson's fault. BYU had brought up legal questions re: the TV contract with Versus and the Mtn, which the MWC failed to address.

BYU still wields considerable power. And right now, they're like a "swing state" in an election year. Keep BYU in the MWC and the conference might still qualify for an automatic berth when the BCS bids are reassessed. Subtract BYU (on top of Utah) and the MWC slides back into also-ran status. Replacing Utah AND BYU with Fresno State and Nevada is not exactly an even swap.

 

[7StraightIsGreat]

I don't buy that BYU was the "Crown Jewel" of the MWC. Now I do believe that when the MWC was initially formed, you could call BYU that but much has changed over time. In the history of the MWC, Utah is above .500 in head-to-head against BYU, won an equal amount of MWC titles and of course gotten the conference 2 BCS births and 2 BCS wins.

And for the record, I don't think you could annoint Utah the crown jewel either. With the addition of TCU a few years ago, the MWC actually had a few nice things going and didn't need to hang their hat on just 1 school's performance. That's the entire reason people are starting to believe the conference was worth AQ status.

With the loss of Utah but the addition of Boise, the conference was still headed in that direction. However, it obviously cannot afford to lose Boise, TCU or BYU from here on out because of Utah's defection and it would work that way regardless of who left first.

Some BYU fans get it, others clearly don't: You're not as big of a deal as you think you are. And that's not saying you're a below average program, it's just stating the facts. You tried to pull a power play, and you lost. Do you really think Nevada and Fresno bolt the WAC if a school like Notre Dame is the one talking about entering into a deal with the conference? Obviously not.

 

[Scat]

I don't buy that BYU was the "Crown Jewel" of the MWC. Now I do believe that when the MWC was initially formed, you could call BYU that but much has changed over time. In the history of the MWC, Utah is above .500 in head-to-head against BYU, won an equal amount of MWC titles and of course gotten the conference 2 BCS births and 2 BCS wins.

Having lived in SoCal for several years I still have a number of friends down there that are huge PAC fans. In fact the company I work for is based in SoCal and every year the UCLA vs. USC game makes for an interesting week at work.

NONE of them even knew that Utah had gotten into the PAC until I mentioned it and to a person they all asked, "Utah? Really? Why? Are they any good?" LOL Several even mentioned how they thought the only big time school in the state of Utah was BYU, which they had all heard of. There were even a couple of people that associated Utah as BYU and mentioned BYU beating Cal last year. LOL

I'm sure Utah will turn a few heads once they start PAC play but don't delude yourself into thinking that as of now Utah has any name recognition outside of the MWC.

 

[fatchipper]

CONAN - I have a few questions for you. I'm not trolling, I am truly interested in your answer.

1. Do you really believe that panic ensued solely because BYU looked like they may be packing up shop?

2. Do you think the reaction would have been the same if Utah were never going to the PAC 10, and BYU had, under those circumstances, announced it's intention to go independent?

3. Do you give any credence to the theory that the MWC panicked because they had already lost one of their flagship programs, and was unwilling to part with another in such rapid succession?

4. And lastly, do you think the MWC has always considered BYU the crown jewel of their collection?

You honestly think conan will answer any of those questions? It would require actual thought and sentences longer than 3-4 words. He's incapable of doing such.

 

[SaltyDawg]

Having lived in SoCal for several years I still have a number of friends down there that are huge PAC fans. In fact the company I work for is based in SoCal and every year the UCLA vs. USC game makes for an interesting week at work.

NONE of them even knew that Utah had gotten into the PAC until I mentioned it and to a person they all asked, "Utah? Really? Why? Are they any good?" LOL Several even mentioned how they thought the only big time school in the state of Utah was BYU, which they had all heard of. There were even a couple of people that associated Utah as BYU and mentioned BYU beating Cal last year. LOL

I'm sure Utah will turn a few heads once they start PAC play but don't delude yourself into thinking that as of now Utah has any name recognition outside of the MWC.

So because your friends don't know anything about college football that means nobody knows anything about Utah?

I have plenty of friends in SoCal myself, having also lived there, and they all knew about Utah possibly joining the PAC before it was official.

 

[7StraightIsGreat]

Having lived in SoCal for several years I still have a number of friends down there that are huge PAC fans. In fact the company I work for is based in SoCal and every year the UCLA vs. USC game makes for an interesting week at work.

NONE of them even knew that Utah had gotten into the PAC until I mentioned it and to a person they all asked, "Utah? Really? Why? Are they any good?" LOL Several even mentioned how they thought the only big time school in the state of Utah was BYU, which they had all heard of. There were even a couple of people that associated Utah as BYU and mentioned BYU beating Cal last year. LOL

I'm sure Utah will turn a few heads once they start PAC play but don't delude yourself into thinking that as of now Utah has any name recognition outside of the MWC.

I'm going to have to call BS on your entire post. If somebody is a "huge" Pac10 fan, they would know damn well who Utah is. Utah has been in the the conversation for the Pac 10 for a few years now. I have a hunch that what your really talking about is a bunch of casual, front-running So-Cal fans who don't follow much of anything football related very closely and you're making them out to be huge fans who've never heard of Utah just to try and make a point. If they are such "HUGE" So-Cal fans, I wonder why they've never heard of Utah considering it wasn't all that long ago Carson Palmer and the Trojans lost to them in the Vegas Bowl. Did these "HUGE" fans forget to turn on their TV's that day?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Utah's name recognition is spectacular. In fact, BYU may be better known across the country but for the most part that's because of the fact that their the flagship school of the Mormon religion and if you don't love them, you love to hate them. In the scope of the last 6 to 10 years, Utah has by far been a more prominent national program than BYU. They've played in 2 big bowl games and have the 2nd longest bowl winning streak in NCAA history and during that time they've beat some pretty decent programs.


We can talk about what school is more recognizable across the country, or we can talk about what school that has done much more on the national stage as of late.......

 

[Bronco70]

The MWC conference would be just fine with 3 of the 4 big teams in it: Boise State, TCU and Utah or BYU. Take away the two latter teams and you not only eliminate two of the best schools in terms of football (and many other sports), you lose the entire state in terms of TV's. Now granted, the state of Utah ain't huge, but there's more people watching MWC football in Salt Lake and Provo than there are in Laramie, Fort Collins, etc..

This is exactly what I'm saying.

Hardcore Utah fans want to believe BYU doesn't matter, and hardcore BYU fans want to believe that Utah doesn't matter, but at the end of the day, the MWC needs one of them. It doesn't even matter which. IMO, they are of roughly equal value to the conference. As GE pointed out, they both represent a TV market that is important to the MWC. Utah has some recent BCS success, BYU has history and visibility, and a fan base that spreads out. Both teams have played well in recent seasons, and had success against major programs.