Independents Day: BYU Looking To Become A National College Football Team

First Utah to the Pac-10, now BYU becomes an independent, what’s next—TCU to the Big 12?

The Mountain West Conference could be imploding before our very eyes with the recent news that BYU is strongly contemplating dropping out and becoming college football’s fourth independent FBS team.

Luckily, the conference had the news of Brett Favre’s return to occupy the sports media’s attention today. The BYU news is a disastrous blow for a group that was on the verge of making a case to be the seventh BCS automatic qualifier.

The Mountain West is welcoming in Boise State next year, but right now the only marquee name left among the remaining eight teams is TCU.

BYU is a team which has had four straight double digit win seasons under the leadership of head coach Bronco Mendenhall. More importantly for the conference, the Cougars had one of the highest enrollments and fanbases among Mountain West schools.

It was because of that enrollment and fanbase that the school felt confident enough to leave the Mountain West for independence. BYU has a nationwide fanbase through their Mormon background and they can now see the advantage of reaching a bigger chunk of that base.

The move indicates BYU’s desire to gain a national spotlight like fellow independent team—Notre Dame. The Irish have their own television contract and specialized deals which have helped them to become one of the most recognizable and profitable teams in the country.

BYU has been a member of the conference since the Mountain West’s inception back in 1999. They have a strong recent background which includes 43 wins over the last four seasons. They’ve also won three outright conference championships including two in the last four years.

Mendenhall has shown he can develop quality players and he can recruit star athletes. Freshman quarterback Jake Heaps was one of the top recruits in the nation last year and could be a future star.

The Cougars want to display their emerging star players on national television for all to see. They don’t want the occasional spot on the Versus Network and an invitation to the Las Vegas Bowl every year.

Last year’s upset of the Oklahoma Sooners at Cowboy Stadium really allowed this move to happen. That gave BYU the win they needed to really substantiate a name for themselves among the nationwide college football audience.

They’ve got the resources—stadium, fan base, coach, strong history, etc.—to pull off the move and really gain some national prominence. It’s just up to Mendenhall and his staff to really keep the program energized and worthy of that type of public interest.

So in the end, what does this all mean for the Mountain West?

All may not be lost yet. Reports say a WAC poaching is expected. There are already talks that Fresno State and Nevada will be invited and another team will probably come over to help round things out to an even twelve.

This year could be the end of an era for the Mountain West. If all these moves actually take place, the Mountain West will be losing two teams that combined for seven conference championships in the conference’s eleven year history.