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BYU Football: Why BYU and the AAC make sense

By Adam Gibby

CINCINNATI, OHIO - DECEMBER 19: The American Athletic Conference logo on the field after the game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at Nippert Stadium on December 19, 2020 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OHIO - DECEMBER 19: The American Athletic Conference logo on the field after the game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at Nippert Stadium on December 19, 2020 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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TAMPA, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 23: Head coach Mike Norvell of the Memphis Tigers and head coach Charlie Strong of the South Florida Bulls shake hands during a game at Raymond James Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 23: Head coach Mike Norvell of the Memphis Tigers and head coach Charlie Strong of the South Florida Bulls shake hands during a game at Raymond James Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

Recruiting

Recruiting used to be about going to the local high schools and scouting out the best local talent, and then offering them a scholarship. Those days are long gone and today recruiting is all about finding the best players anywhere and trying to bring them in. Often times, one of the best ways that teams recruit is by brining recruits to games, even away games when they are in the area, or sending out scouts while they are playing in a different location.

While some of the old strategies are still used, today coaches have to be on the ground everywhere to try to find the best talent they can.

How this helps the AAC

Again, sort of like the market mentioned earlier, this opens up recruiting to the mountain time zone. Currently, the furthest west the conference goes is SMU, Houston and Tulsa, all geographically on the right side of the country. Opening up the market all the way out to Utah would surely bring in more talent to the rest of the conference and would even allow scouting trips to be more accessible to the west coast.

How this helps BYU

This is a no brainer. First off, recruits like to hear that they can play for a National Championship. The reality is, even with the Playoff likely expanding to 12 teams, it would take a 12-0 season to even make an at-large spot. Realistically, if BYU won the AAC and finished 11-2 they could get the auto-bid, something recruits will want to hear.

Also, this would open up the entire country up for BYU to recruit. They already have a pipeline on the West Coast, but this would open up Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Louisiana and other states that could really help the Cougars.

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