More twists and turns than an Agatha Christie Novel but things have settled and we have arrived at 16 teams in the BIG XII!
Things went from bleak “the conference is dead” to it being solidly in the new P4… or will it be P3? Obviously it feels with the media deal of the ACC that there will be more movement. But for the time being BYU is hardly alone out west. Arizona, ASU and Utah will give us cougar fans lots of close games and ease the burden of having to travel across country for conference games. Not that we aren’t used to that after being an independent…
If you’re a paying CougConnect subscriber you knew that this was all going to happen two days ago. We told from multiple sources that ASU and Utah would be joining Arizona in the BIG XII. A lot has transpired since then but I still honestly believe this was a done deal a few days back. Of course with the PAC being involved it was going to be drama at the finish line. But nearly exactly what we said is what happened. It just got sped up with the movement from UW and Oregon.
I believe that Oregon and UW received the same news I did about the all the four corner schools making a clean break for the XII and that’s why you saw this near instantaneous revival of talks between those schools and the B1G.
Utah fans get to eat crow about the truck stop, academic, and other snooty remarks they made about their new conference. I think the BIG XII fan bases will be quick to remind them of it. They all seems like a fun group of fans that will keep Utah fans on their toes. And let’s not pretend it was just one Pig Bus account there were many dozens of Utah fans looking down their noses at the BIG XII. One Utah reporter talked of a realistic scenario of them joining the SEC in addition to all the talk of them being a near slam dunk for the B1G.
At the end of day the way things shook out proves that Utah is a good football team but not nearly as special as their fans like to pretend. But this is good news really. BYU and Utah get the real rivalry back. It gets to be played Thanksgiving weekends, with conference implications. It will also likely be played at night in a prime time spotlight. Sounds great to me!
Utah will be getting full shares a year earlier than the cougars it seems. But the talk to recruits of BYU not being in a P5 conference or having nothing to play for have all evaporated. With the new highly touted and experienced Defensive coaching staff at BYU; and Whit nearing the end of his long and incredible run as a head coach and a defensive guru. It feels like things are in the cougars favor and that there could be some changes to those recruiting dynamics. The programs seem to be on relatively equal footing starting off this new era together.
NIL, locker room culture, coaching, and on the field production will likely play the biggest roles moving forward. Full vs partial payouts for a year will be of little consequence in the grand scheme of things. I’m looking forward to the future of Cougar football and the events of today should be celebrated by BYU fans!
Thanks to all our subscribers who make a difference in the players lives. If you’re active in the Q&A and private group discussions on Twitter and Discord you’ve probably heard from some players or seen some screenshots about the difference we all make with CougConnect.
Every month we get more subscribers and help more players. If you’ve been with us from the beginning you can definitely see the major growth and upwards trend. Our hope is that we can get a majority of cougar fans on board and make Provo a top NIL destination in addition to being a top academic, football and character building destination.
So if that sounds good to you stick with us and help bring some friends a long too. The power of Cougar Nation is truly one of the best things about BYU. If you’re reading this and haven’t subscribed yet please really considering doing so. It’s only $9.99 a month and for the last two years all that money has gone to the players or to update things with site or studio. I really hope you can help us make the program at BYU stronger.
Well thanks for enjoying the realignment journey with us and I hope you’re enjoying the fall camp updates as well! The season is just around the corner! Go Cougs!