BYU's New Landscape

BYU vs. Utah

Utah’s move to the PAC-10 has changed the landscape of recruiting for BYU.

If the status-quo remains, it’s going to get a lot harder for the Cougars. You can expect the “U” to compete much more effectively for the in-state LDS athlete that BYU has traditionally had the market on.

Utah will no doubt sell its strong LDS Institute of Religion to these recruits. The Ute programs will pitch them on the idea that they can have a “BYU-type” experience, live near or at home and play in the PAC-10.

Every year those athletes can face off against programs like USC and UCLA, and in football they can compete every year for a national championship and/or Rose Bowl. And they can do all of that even if they want to grow a beard or wear their hair past their collar.

The Utes may also find the going easier with the highly sought after out-of-state LDS recruits, which they have generally conceded to BYU or PAC-10 schools in the past. Now those highly touted recruits can come to Utah, be around lots of members of their Church, and play in the PAC-10.

Expect Utah to also sell a message that LDS athletes can now effectively represent their faith at Utah, because in PAC-10 country, the Utes will be viewed as the “Mormon school”.

The state of Utah will also become a higher profile state for PAC-10 and other BCS conference recruiters. BYU will have significantly more competition for the top in-state recruits from programs outside of the state.

Periodically BYU and Utah have gone head-to-head for non-LDS recruits, with the Cougars surprisingly able to hold their own. For example, in football, BYU recently landed non-LDS athletes that the Utes coveted in Joshua Quesada and Tayo Fabuluje. Now the allure of playing in the PAC-10 could swing more of those athletes to the dark side.

Another interesting change will come with the elimination of the Mountain West Conference transfer rule between the two schools. In the past, if an athlete wanted to transfer within the conference, not only would that athlete have to sit out the year, but they would also lose that year of eligibility. That will now no longer be the case for athletes that end up transferring between the two universities.

In the long term, the PAC-10 money will assist the Utes in an effort to catch BYU and other members of the PAC-10 when it comes to facilities. It will be easier to enlist the contributions of local businesses and boosters in this effort as well. And as any recruit can tell you, facilities do matter.

Any of one of these facets alone may not be cause for concern for BYU. But taken as a whole, they certainly are. It many sports it will take but a handful of athletes that would typically choose BYU to now choose Utah, to dramatically shift the balance of power. Then consider the fact that Utah will now be able to recruit the areas they now target more effectively, mainly California and Texas.

When you stop to consider the new lay of the land, one can easily see why it is imperative for the Cougars to find a route to BCS inclusion.