BYU’s Independent Experiment Already Running Its Course?

Brigham Young’s declaration of football independence in the summer of 2010 was a bold move. Like most bold actions, it was also risky. The long term sustainability of independence was predicated on forging lasting partnerships, something BYU athletic brass worked diligently to accomplish. Today however, a major blow was struck to independent feasibility when one of the big names signed onto a long series cut the deal in half.

Per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia Tech will play BYU just twice rather than the originally agreed-to four games. The 2014 and 2017 games are those on the chopping block. The Wrecks’ move comes with Pitt and Syracuse joining the ACC, thus the conference moving to the nine-game schedule already adopted in the Pac-12 and Big 12.

The possibility of others following BYU’s gamble seemed a distinct possibility, particularly given one of the first programs to agree to a series with the newly independent Cougars was Texas. The Longhorn Network and ensuing rift it caused between UT and certain Big 12 partners made a Texas move to independence look logical, if not inevitable.

However, cooler heads — and given the lack of availability and/or interest shown in the Longhorn Network, saner heads prevailed and the Big 12 is forging on with UT in the lead. The Big 12 is fortifying its ranks with the additions of one-time BYU conference mate TCU and West Virginia; the ACC and SEC are expanding as the Pac-12 and Big Ten already have; the Big East scoured the Mountain West and Conference USA for new recruits, leaving those two leagues to merge.

Everyone at the dance is finding a new partner, while BYU is stuck reaping the unfortunate consequences of risk and living the definition of independent.

The university’s athletic department can’t be taken to task. Quite the opposite; despite a WAC-filled (or is that whack-filled?) slate its first season, BYU secured contracts with big name programs from there on out. Included in that list is the aforementioned Texas and Georgia Tech, Boise State, West Virginia and Ole Miss, with natural opponents like Utah State and Hawai’i filling out other slots.

BYU was at an immediate disadvantage however, because it lacked the longstanding rivalries of other current independents. To make matters worse on that front, a possible casualty of conference scheduling is BYU’s one true rivalry. The Holy War is only guaranteed through next season.

Navy and Army each have two guaranteed games from the Commander-in-Chief’s Cup, with other rivals like Notre Dame and Rutgers. The service academies would seem logical opponents for BYU, but Navy moves to the Big East in 2015. With its guaranteed games vs. West Point, Air Force and Notre Dame. Temple’s return to the Big East leaves the MAC at an uneven 13, but with Army already playing a schedule annually heavy in MAC opponents, it makes an obvious choice for No. 14.

That leaves Notre Dame, the only program with a proven, workable blueprint for independence amid seismic shifting of conferences. UND is one of the marquee match-ups BYU has slated, having picked up a set with the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame has found a way to make independence work, but it’s not a model every program can follow. The Irish’s century of top tier football allowed it to cultivate relationships with Michigan, Michigan State, USC, Stanford, Boston College: from that pool alone, plus Navy, half the Irish’s yearly schedule is set. BYU has no such luxury.

UND’s NBC contract is the most significant component to its sustainability. Notre Dame built a national audience over the decades, and NBC is willing to pay top dollar for those eyes on its product. NBC’s dollars give the Irish incentive to woo opponents for match-ups. BYU has no such proverbial carrot to dangle.

Meanwhile, conferences are making dramatic changes beyond the swelling of ranks. The Pac-12 and Big Ten entered into an agreement last December to partner up members for yearly non-conference games. The concept is one of the major blows dealt to the Holy War’s future, as UU will play nine guaranteed conference games and one Big Ten opponent annually.

The Big Ten/Pac-12 challenge that lingers on the horizon is an innovative idea, born of each conference’s desire to provide its network viewers marquee games. As other conferences follow , BYU will be left even further in the lurch. And should other big name, conference-bound programs signed onto games with the Cougars need to maneuver as Georgia Tech has, BYU has little recourse.