BYU Football Scheduling: Notre Dame, Boise State, Texas Potential Foes

It's official. BYU is moving to Independent status in football, while hanging their hat in the West Coast Conference for basketball and other sports.

Scheduling has turned out to be one of the most hotly debated facets to the discussion these past two weeks.

Now that the deal is done, here's a look at a potential scheduling strategy that could keep BYU's slate of games compelling and competitive for years to come. 

Some other independents, some powerhouses and a little of everything else make for a strong formula...

A Marquee and a Mini

To set the foundation of your schedule, you get your big-time matchup. Use ESPN as a scheduling partner and land the Oklahoma game. The Texas matchup. Bring Miami to Provo or take on USC in LA. 

Land the one game that has the potential to make a season special. 

And then find someone who needs a "money game." Give a 1AA school half-a-mill to come in and get slapped around. Let North Texas see that Provo doesn't like to be messed with, either. Maybe you even let Wyoming come in for a payday.

Regardless of the cupcake and the beefcake, you've got a solid start. Next, look to others in your same boat...

Bring on the Irish

BYU and Notre Dame do have a history of playing each other in recent years. Those meetings have wins by both teams at home, as well as on each other's fields. 

With a little work and some stolen luck of the Irish, BYU may be able to get regular games with Notre Dame, due to both school's independence and the need for late-season opponents. 

The same goes for Army and Navy, which could each be on the BYU schedule every other year.

So that gets you a couple more games a season.

Then, look a little closer to home...

In-State Rivalries Retained

Annual games between the Cougars and Utah State Aggies are a pretty easy deal. Both schools have shown a commitment to play regularly. There's no reason both sides wouldn't agree to a long-term relationship. 

Additionally, despite Utah's movin' on up to the Pac-10, the athletic department at the University of Utah and that of BYU have expressed a strong desire to keep this heated and interesting rivalry alive. 

Play them both every year and now you've got six games.

And speaking of the Pac-10...

Pac 'Em In

It's a poorly kept secret in Pac-10 country that if you want to sell an additional 10,000 tickets to a home game, schedule BYU. 

The strong population of Mormons in the Pacific states bring interest as well as ticket sales when the Cougars are in town. Combine that with a bit of history (like the Las Vegas Bowl) with geographic proximity and BYU should be able to schedule at least two Pac-10 teams per year. 

That takes the schedule to eight games. 

Now, look to the current college football darlings...

Boise State Broncos and Old Mountain West Foes

Boise State and BYU scheduled a home and home a few years ago, and are scheduled for the same in 2011 and 2012. 

These two fan bases are surprisingly intertwined, with plenty of Boise natives in Utah, and lots of Mormons in the Gem State. This creates a nice environment for rivalry and passion. 

And since Boise State has been somewhat on the outside looking in with this whole WAC/MWC bloodbath, there may not be bad feelings clouding what could be a great series, long-term. 

Additionally, old Mountain West schools like San Diego State and UNLV know that they, too see the stands fill up when BYU is in town, and are likely to desire those games post-conference affiliation. 

Call that another game per season and you're up to nine. 

Non-Goliaths from BCS leagues

We're talking about Florida State, Virginia, Kansas State, Purdue, Mississippi State, and Louisville here. 

Pick good, solid teams from good, solid conferences, but find games that are winnable. Notre Dame has done a good job of this over the years, and BYU could learn from it. 

Play two of these a year and now you've got a 11-game schedule that's looking pretty appealing. 

Then...fill it out...

WAC and CUSA Top Dogs

In the recent past, BYU has played good games against good-to-middlin' schools from these conferences—and even lost a couple. 

Getting games against Tulsa, Nevada, Houston, UTEP, and the like shouldn't be too tough, and they are good to fill out the schedule. It'd be against an opponent that at least doesn't hurt your ranking, and they would play in good fertile recruiting grounds. 

Now you've got a formula that gets your 12 games. And it's a...um..."heck" of a lot better than the lineup you get in the MWC.