BYU AD: "There are opportunities for BYU that did not exist last week"

With Utah's departure to the Pac 10, many questions have surrounded BYU and their place in the college athletics landscape.  BYU, a school that did it better for longer, was passed up in favor of Utah, a school that has been on fire for the last decade.  Many wonder if the Mountain West has more plans, or if BYU has plans of their own as well.

Here are the key quotes from a recent interview with BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe that give insight to the thinking going on in Provo:

"Things may settle for a little bit," Holmoe said, "but there's opportunities — great opportunities for BYU that did not exist last week."

Holmoe wouldn't get specific, except to say doors are opening. 

"It's a huge challenge to redefine our identity," said Holmoe. In the same breath, he added, "But our identity's not going to change. It doesn't matter if we're in the Pac-10, the Big Ten, the Mountain West Conference or independent; it doesn't matter. We are BYU. We will always be BYU. We will never change. We're NOT in (certain) conferences because of who we are." 

Holmoe hastened to add that BYU doesn't intend to stand down. On the contrary, last week's events ramped up his resolve. 

"It's a good check for us right now," Holmoe continued. "There's a lot of work for us to do. ... In this time frame, we have our allegiances. BYU has certain allegiances, and BYU has lived up to them, and now we have opportunities that didn't exist in the past."

The full article can be found here, from Brad Rock at Deseret News:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700043408/Athletic-director-Tom-Holmoe-says-BYU-athletics-has-bright-future.html?pg=2

Weakened Athletic Conference

With the departure of standard-bearer Boise State, the Western Athletic Conference has a lot of questions to answer.

The overarching question: Can the WAC ever be relevant again?

Utah ---> Pac 12

It's completely official.  Utah got the call up to the bigs.  The Utes will be graduating to some awesome tighty-whities.  BYU, TCU, and Boise State will still be wearing Pull Ups.

http://www.pac-10.org/genrel/061610aaa.html

An interesting note schedule-wise for the Utes:  if the word that Utah and Colorado will start in the Pac12 in 2011 (no reason not to, not sure why original story was Colorado would start in 2012...), then Utah will pick up new empty slots to fill on its non-conference schedule.  Currently, Utah has scheduled Oregon in 2011, and Washington State and Colorado in 2012-13.

Utah to Pac 12: Pros and Cons

Comcast in the Bay Area is reporting that the Pac 10 will definitely invite Utah tomorrow.  And although Pac 10 commish Larry Scott has just denied this report to the Denver Post, Utah to the Pac 10 12 seems imminent.   What will be the pros and cons for Utah, the Pac 10 12, and the Mountain West Conference?

Expansion Crisis 2010: June 14 Pt. 2

104.9 FM in Austin, Texas, an ESPN radio affiliate, has just reported that in meetings today, the Big 12 decided to invite BYU and Air Force to the Big 12, and that the invitation will come on Wednesday.

For the Big12, it kinda makes sense.  They pick up the Denver market lost when Colorado left, and the BYU market (greater SLC area) is probably similar to Nebraska.  However, these two schools have quasi-national followings.

Waiting for more information ..........

UPDATE:  104.9 The Horn had their Twitter account accessed by someone who shouldn't have had access.  Looks like we're back to square one.  Musical chairs may be close to ending.

Expansion Crisis 2010: June 14

These things are certain: Boise State will begin play in the Mountain West in 2011.  Nebraska will play in the Big Ten in 2011.  Colorado will play in the Pac 10 in 2012.

After that, we've run through a lot of rumors and speculation during the weekend.  And today's news is the biggest bombshell of all:  the musical chairs are about to stop as ESPN is set to pour money into the Big 12 to keep it together.

USC gets 2-year bowl ban, loses 20 scholarships

Big news late last night: the official NCAA report on USC leaked, and the results aren't good for the Kiffin Krew.  USC will be banned from bowl games for the next 2 seasons and will lose 20 scholarships.

Even bigger news:  per NCAA bylaws, any player who has all of their remaining eligibility fall within the penalty period is free to transfer to any school without sitting out a season.  If Utah and BYU have any spots remaining, this may bode well for them.  Utah and BYU often battle USC for recruits, especially those who are of the Mormon faith.  Earlier this offseason, USC LB Uona Kaveinga transferred to BYU (bet he wished he waited!).  Could these 2 MWC powers be the beneficiaries of Pete Carroll and Co.'s indiscretions by receiving junior and senior Trojan vagabonds?

Expansion Crisis 2010: June 10

Nebraska (unofficially) to the Big Ten on Friday, and Colorado will be announced as a new member of the Pac 10 today.  How things change in one day.  (Not to mention major sanctions levied against USC).

Here's the latest on Expansion Crisis 2010, as of the morning of June 10:

Expansion Crisis 2010: June 9

About a week after college football conference realignment talk started to get real serious, fans and media nationwide are still waiting, just waiting for someone to pull the trigger first.  Will it be Nebraska? Colorado? Notre Dame? Boise State?

As rumors continue to swirl, here's how Expansion Crisis 2010 stands at least for now, the morning of June 9, 2010:

Utah #20 in FB/BB combined ranking

Click on the title to view Rivals.com's ranking of schools in the BCS era for their combined performance in football and basketball.  Schools earn football points for final ranking and basketball points by NCAA tourney performance.

Will Boise to MWC happen on Monday?

Are the Boise State Broncos taking their impressive football pedigree to the Mountain West?

There is no official word on the matter, but Irv Moss from the Denver Post and Kevin McGuire from Examiner.com are speculating that the MWC will officially invite Boise to join them when the MWC board of directors meets on June 7.

Is this just more speculation and wishful thinking?  Or will it finally happen?

Hawaii OC Ron Lee retires

Hawaii Warriors offensive coordinator Ron Lee is retiring from coaching on June 15, leaving Hawaii to fill a major coaching position as the 2010 season approaches.  Lee spent all 11 of his years on the island as receivers coach and has been the offensive coordinator for the last 2 seasons.

His retirement may have come sooner, but head coach Greg McMackin asked Lee to stay on board until spring practices were over.

It was unclear if McMackin took issue with any of Lee's dancing preferences.