BYU football: Cougars have seven seasons to make a real run at P5
BYU football has seven years to make a legitimate run at a Power 5 conference. With TV deals expiring a realignment coming, the Cougars have their window.
Last summer, every BYU football fan waited with bated breath as the Big 12 did its ridiculous “we-want-to-expand-actually-no-we-don’t-well-maybe-we-will-nah-bro-we’re-good” dance.
It was nonsensical, likely just a money grab, and it was strung out way too long. Plus, it all ended with a giant middle finger to viable expansion candidates.
Obviously one of those candidates was BYU football.
Luckily for the Cougars, a much less dysfunctional expansion will be coming in 2024.
At that point, the current TV deals will expire. With the grant of rights off the table, conferences will look to restructure.
Then things will get interesting for BYU football.
The Cougars could remain a FBS Independent. They could join a power conference, or they might join a Group of Five conference.
It’s worth noting that we’re using “Power Five” kind of loosely. Because, when all is said and done, there might not be five power conferences anymore.
Assuming the Big 12 disbands entirely, Texas and Oklahoma likely bolt to the SEC. That leaves the rest of the conference members scrambling to find a new home. Some might settle in the with Big 10, others might have to find a lesser home.
The first scenario we mentioned – BYU remaining a FBS Independent – is the scariest for the Cougars.
It is mostly an unknown. Maybe being an Independent in 2024 is as profitable as it is in 2017 – but there’s no way of knowing that. Maybe being an Independent is basically like being in a Group of Five conference, without a payout. That would be bad.
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The second scenario is obviously the goal for BYU football.
Big-time money comes with being in a power conference. By the time 2024 rolls around, the money will be more impressive than ever. Getting into one validates everything the Cougars have done post-Mountain West.
The third scenario means that BYU football had a poor seven-year run. If BYU wins 10 games each of the next seven years, you could remain a FBS Independent while remaining valuable.
If the Cougars average eight wins per year, that means they’ll likely be shoe horned into a smaller conference.
The only thing BYU football can do right now is win games. More wins, more Top 25 rankings, more headlines. . . all of those things catch the NCAA’s attention. With the political criticisms that accompany BYU, the on-field product has to be better and more valuable than ever before.
Over the next four seasons, the Cougars have games scheduled with Arizona, California, Wisconsin, Washington, Utah, Boise State, USC, Tennessee, Michigan State, Arizona State, Mississippi State, Minnesota, Missouri, Stanford and LSU.
Win a good portion of those games, turn some heads, live in the Top 25, keep getting quality recruits.
That’s all the Cougars can do. And it all starts this year.
Regardless of how it shakes out, it is a very exciting time to be a BYU football fan.