Cougars, MWC’s chance for BCS inclusion vanish

Five thoughts on potential fallout:

1. Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010, will be looked upon as the day the Mountain West Conference lost its chance at becoming an automatic Bowl Championship Series qualifier. TRUE.

This ended a yawn-a-sentence statement released by conference commissioner Craig Thompson on BYU’s departure: "We look forward to the future with great excitement — particularly welcoming recent additions Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada into the Mountain West."

No they don’t.

That’s not to say the conference dislikes Fresno State or UNR. But the only reason the league pursued them was to quash BYU’s attempt at joining forces with the Western Athletic Conference and hopefully convince the Cougars to stay. The latter didn’t happen.

The Mountain West without Utah and BYU won’t be nearly as attractive to the BCS had both remained to form a fantastic football foursome along with Texas Christian and Boise State. The BCS numbers simply won’t be there in two years when the next round of automatic berths are decided.

Thompson’s next move must be a follow-up meeting with Conference USA, because the best bet for automatic inclusion now is a merged union of the top two non-BCS leagues and a lot of praying those at the BCS table finally concede one berth.

It might not be the last hope, but it’s close.

2. Mountain West teams should refuse to schedule BYU in all sports. FALSE … to a point.

I have no problem with letting the Cougars hurt in football and making it difficult for them to find quality opponents by not taking their calls.

But if you are among the have-nots in college football, like, say, UNLV, you need to find a comparable team, meaning one that guarantees a home sellout. The bottom line is still the bottom line in down economic times.

Basketball is a bit different, and you’d have to consider playing BYU if ESPN coverage was part of the deal, although I don’t know why anyone would volunteer to play in a building (Marriott Center) where the Cougars own one of the nation’s top home-court advantages.

As for all other sports, you always do what is best for a specific program and ultimately your university. If it means playing BYU for strength-of-schedule numbers in soccer or baseball or whatever, so be it.

3. The entire WCC should welcome BYU with open arms and wide smiles … FALSE.

I understand why conference officials and presidents want BYU, why they see more dollar signs and television exposure (at least when they play BYU) and tickets sold and overall prestige points.

I have no idea why any WCC coach or athletic director would want the Cougars.

BYU can outspend every team to heights the other eight schools can’t imagine. Other than men’s basketball against Gonzaga and in some seasons Saint Mary’s, BYU will win at any WCC sport it wants to.

It will spend more, buy far more guaranteed home wins in basketball, outrecruit the others and generally have its way on the scoreboard.

BYU has an athletic budget in the $30 million range. Loyola Marymount plays basketball in a glorified high school gym, and many WCC sports aren’t even fully funded.

A friend on Tuesday likened it to this: Think of San Francisco and Santa Clara and Portland and the others as National League West teams.

The Yankees just moved into the division.

Not good.

4. BYU’s departure should cause the Mountain West to rethink its television options … TRUE.

I won’t hold my breath, but now that the Salt Lake City market has been removed from the conference (don’t even start with the nonsense of what a Utah State might bring in terms of interest), every option should be on the table and discussed.

That includes trying to work again with ESPN as the league’s main carrier. It’s time to get real and admit a horrible mistake has been made.

The current TV deal is a disaster.

Without a Utah or BYU, the entire thing needs to be set ablaze and begun anew.

5. BYU will ultimately regret its move to football independence … MAYBE.

There is no definitive answer today, no certainty or proof to support either side of the argument. It won’t be easy for BYU. Scheduling in football will be difficult. The BCS won’t look upon it as Notre Dame. Everything said two weeks ago remains true.

Did the Cougars leave for a better television contract and greater revenue streams?

Did they depart from pure jealously after Utah’s departure for the Pac-10?

Did they sell their football soul to a pipe dream and, if so, at what long-term cost?

All are questions unanswered.

This much we know: BYU today is entering into a realm that could lift it to a national level of football prominence it has never known or severely hurt its program for years to come.

That, and the Mountain West Conference awakes today a weaker and far less attractive league to the BCS than it was 24 hours ago.

TRUE that.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618.