7 BCS-Worthy Teams That Will Refuse to Play BYU over Home-Field Advantage

Auburn wins national championship. Congratulations to Auburn.

But will they play BYU on a home-and-home? Or on a neutral field?

With BYU going independent, many teams will fear the home-field advantage that BYU has even on a neutral field.

I'm not talking about a neutral field in the good ol' US of A, where more BYU fans have turned up to games in Las Vegas and San Diego than the home team, or even at sites like Colorado State, Wyoming and other schools BYU has played.

BYU doesn’t have the biggest stadium and 100,000 screaming rapid fans in Provo. No, there is no gauntlet of tailgaters to get through in the parking lots or crush of traffic on the freeways, or even black out of media.

That is not where the home-field advantage is for BYU. If they invited a team to play on a "neutral field," there are some that I think would refuse.

It is fantasy, but dreaming is what BYU is about these days. What is that home-field advantage everyone will fear? Away games. Like really far away games.

Games in Tokyo, Madrid, London, Mexico City and many other venues. Let’s look at the "away" home games BYU could play and the teams that will shun the offer.

Here is my short list of teams that don’t want to play BYU because of the home-field advantage BYU could have if they wanted to.

Alabama Crimson Cringes at Thought of BYU in London

Here is the real marquee chance at a neutral site for Alabama.

Instead of beating up on a lowly Kent State whose stadium only holds 25,000 fans, they have a chance to step it up to BYU.

Now, the last time Alabama met a team from Utah, it was Utah, who handed them a humbling loss.  

Enter BYU—how about a date with BYU at Wembley Stadium in London? 

Not only can BYU fill every one of the 86,000 seats for a football game, they would be filled with fans eating fish and chips instead of pork rinds and ribs. Intolerable.

No, Alabama will pass on this one. It would prefer Kent State, Western Kentucky or Chattanooga.

Brave, Alabama, brave. 

Florida Refuses Date with BYU in Moscow

Yes, you read correctly. 

Florida will have no taste for Wembley Stadium in London, either.

Nor will they be inclined to tackle the weather with a home game in winter with BYU. Not in Provo, where it can get into the teens, snow flying in November, the orange of the trees gone.

But where would BYU offer a game Florida isn’t interested in tackling? How about Kiev or Moscow? Ukraine and Russia. 

BYU can run onto a home field in either Kiev or Moscow with membership in the LDS church that would fill the stands from both countries as well as Finland, Sweden, the Baltic states and even Mongolia.

Can you imagine the chants and cheers in a dozen languages as the temperature plunges to 10 degrees and the snow that defeated more than Napoleon descends on the scene?

No, mighty Florida won’t be found accepting this challenge, even though the broadcast would reach potentially half a billion homes.

Michigan Passes on BYU Challenge to Reprise 1984 Holiday Bowl in Australia

So, how about Michigan?

No, they have avoided BYU since their loss in the Holiday Bowl, when BYU won the national championship at Bo Schembechler’s expense.

His famous quote of “If BYU beats us they deserve to win the national championship” still reverberates across the airwaves of reruns of that game.

BYU-tv plays it regularly, and you can get it anytime day or night on the Internet.  

So how about a rematch at a neutral site in the Philippines, New Zealand or even Sydney, Australia?

These are all sites where BYU has a fanbase that would give it the home-field advantage just like it had in San Diego that fateful December.

Michigan declines.

Miami Moves Away from Opportunity with BYU in Madrid

The last time Miami tangled with BYU, they were ranked No. 1 and on their way to a national championship.

Then they ran into Ty Deter and the mountain air of BYU.

The Hurricanes found themselves blown away, with a potential national championship going with it.

Here comes another opportunity to play BYU, only this time it will be on the plains of Spain in Real Madrid’s stadium of Santiago Burnabeu Stadium. 

With 85,000 seats and suites, BYU can fill every chair with its faithful followers from Spain, France and Portugal. Of course, BYU will travel well there also.

Miami, on the other hand, escaping with a light tap on the wrist for an undercover pay-to-play program from a rogue booster, will not want to travel too far from home—especially after allowing Maryland to take the wind out of its sails.

Sorry BYU, you will have to look elsewhere to find an opponent for Madrid and world-wide coverage on the sports network of choice, ESPN.

Wisconsin Drops the Ball on BYU, Will Be a No-Show in Swiss Cheese Land

The mighty cheese capital of the United States, the reigning premier school of the Big Ten, will shy away from playing BYU amid majestic mountains and tall snow-capped peaks, fantastic downhill skiing and some of the greatest snow on earth.

No, they will be shying away from another cheese capitol, Zurich, Switzerland.

Though a modest crowd under 100,000 could be on hand, again BYU would be able to fill a stadium to support their football team, combined with a regional conference with church leaders speaking to willing LDS faithful from Italy, France, the Balkans and Eastern Europe.  

It's a dream, I know, but think of BYU fans and LDS faithful filling the seats willingly to root for “the church’s team," all while eating cheese fondue.

Nope, Wisconsin will have no taste for a Swiss-cheese connection with BYU—world-wide TV exposure will be no inducement for this away game.

BYU will have to hope for a more traditional sight to play.

Perhaps the rugged hills of Utah won't be so bad after all for Wisconsin—if they would only return the calls. 

Oregon Thinks Twice, but Says to BYU It's Too Far for Us

After losing to LSU in Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas, Oregon will be really careful to schedule home games only for openers.

Now, BYU has to entice Oregon with a neutral site that could be a once-in-a-lifetime deal. An offer you can't refuse.

But after debacles at Boise State and at the hands of LSU, adventuristic games are going to be treated like the plague.

Their response to BYU? “Forget about it” is now emblazoned on their foreheads.  

But wait—you haven't heard the whole deal, Oregon.

The game could be played in Tokyo. A Tokyo opener at the famed National Olympic Stadium, home to the Japan national football team's home matches.

Only a modest 50,000 or so fans will be seated, but BYU has 50,000 fans that could fill all of those seats living in Tokyo and surrounding areas.

The response from Oregon after being stung by LSU? “Not in your lifetime.”

Oh well, I guess Oregon will have to be satisfied playing Montana State, Arkansas State and Wyoming.

Remember, Oregon, the field in Wyoming is at 7,200 feet. Dress warmly.

USC Chooses Not To Go to Mexico to Play BYU

Struggling from the string of sanctions, USC had difficulty with lowly Minnesota, one of the doormats of the Big Ten.

However, Minnesota showed USC they were no doormat.

What USC found out is they may find the sledding tough in the Pac-12 this year and for the next couple years.  

Enter BYU and an opportunity to play in Mexico City at Estadio Azteca. Seating capacity 104,000. Television exposure in Mexico, ESPN in America and BYU-tv in 55 other countries. Exposure, diversity, large audience, new recruiting grounds—all the elements that the best American football can offer.

And, USC, your final answer is? No thank you.

Reason? BYU can fill all 104,000 of those seats with its fans.

USC is struggling, and will struggle, and it doesn’t need to go to Mexico and see a sea of blue, or sing the blues on the way home, worldwide TV or not.

If there is blue in their future, they are sticking with playing Utah State.

That is just seven of perhaps 30 teams you won't see from the SEC, Big 10, Big East, Pac-12 and ACC that won't be playing BYU in any neutral-site games.

As for the Big 12, it seems Texas has risen to the challenge. But where could one of those games be played? Time to dream some more.

"Hello, Mr. Dodds?"