BYU football: Final conference rankings and why they matter
By Adam Gibby
Middle Tier
8. Conference USA
Record: 4-4
Summary: The C-USA silently finished with a .500 record in bowl games. Unfortunate for them, however, most of the wins and losses were to teams that nobody really knows which conference they come from. For example “Florida Atlantic versus Akron” leaves people wondering which conference each team is from. (Yes even I checked which conference Akron is from). So nothing great, nothing terrible, the definition of a middle tier performance.
What it means for BYU football: C-USA would take the Cougars in a heartbeat. It would be a big step down from the Mountain West but if Independence got really (REALLY) bad, the MAC has at least shown it is slightly better than the average group of five conference.
7. Mountain West
Record: 3-3
Summary: The Mountain West Conference slowly is getting back to the talent level that they had when BYU, Utah and TCU were in the conference. The MWC had very good wins with Boise State beating Oregon and Fresno State beating Houston. Utah State’s loss to New Mexico State was bad as was San Diego State’s loss to Army.
What it means for BYU football: The Mountain West Conference may not be a bad option to return to. If the MWC were to add BYU football with Boise State and San Diego State and then throw in the fact that Wyoming, UNLV and Fresno State are drastically improving, suddenly there is a solid conference. If Independence goes much worse, I see this as a good and likely option.
6. Independents
Record: 2-0
Summary: Yes, Army and Notre Dame both won their bowl games. However there were only two teams playing bowl games. That is not good. What was good though was Notre Dame beating LSU in the Citrus Bowl.
What it means for BYU football: If BYU had been bowl eligible and won, the Independents would have been a top three “conference.” This season the Cougars pulled down the Independent name brand, but in the past they’ve made it look pretty good. Currently being Independent doesn’t really seem really that great or terrible.