Knocking on the door of the top 25
BYU football continues to roll. The first place Cougs were in Colorado today taking on the second place Air Force Falcons. It was supposed to be a tough game. It wasn’t. BYU pummeled the cadets, racking up a 21-0 lead in the first half and cruising to a 33-14 win after that. The way things are going right now, a 10-2 season is looking more and more feasible. BYU seems to be playing at a much higher level than anyone else in the MWC right now.
Bronco Mendenhall’s approach seems to be really paying dividends in his second season as head coach. I’m beginning to suspect he has the word “execution” tatooed on the inner eyelids of his players or something because that is all any of these guys talk about. The beauty of this near-robotic approach is that the Cougs really do seem to improve week to week. It is at the point now that if the Cougs do indeed “execute” their assignments and game plans they are almost assured a 10-2 season. That is terrific news if you are a Cougar fan.
So the question now is when do the Cougs crack the top 25 if they can keep winning. There is a chance that they could sneak in this weekend at 6-2 overall and with 5 straight impressive wins. But since only a couple of top 25 teams lost today it is more likely that they will crack the polls next week if they can beat CSU and go to 7-2.
A spot back in the top 25 will be a welcome change for BYU fans. Based on the direction Bronco has BYU heading I susepct the Cougs might find themselves there a lot in seasons to come.
With a name like Bronco, he was destined for success as a football coach. The name alone must inspire the players. I wonder if it or similar names (LaBronc, Broncline, etc.) will become one of those suddenly popular Mormon names?
Comment by Dave — October 29, 2006 @ 12:22 pm
“LaBronc”
Har!
Comment by Geoff J — October 29, 2006 @ 1:39 pm
Bronco goes along well with Grit Young.
Comment by Kevin Barney — October 29, 2006 @ 10:34 pm
I missed the game, but it is good to know they are doing well. Also good to see BC (Boston College) is hanging on.
Comment by Stephen M (Ethesis) — October 30, 2006 @ 7:33 am
Rise and Shout!
Comment by Guy Murray — October 30, 2006 @ 9:45 am
The big weakness is that all the teams we’ve played since TCU have been horrible. Air Force was the strongest but even it isn’t a good team. Wyoming, who is looking to be the number two spot in the MWC unless TCU makes a massive comeback, will probably be our toughest post TCU game.
What hurts us is that since playing us TCU doesn’t look good. And our conference is among the worst in the nation right now.
What helps us is that Tulsa and BC are looking pretty good.
Comment by Clark Goble — October 30, 2006 @ 10:46 am
Seriously, when is it time BYU and UofU move into the Pac10? It’s so frustrating to be such a consistently good team (and have a wide fan base) and see so many of the consistently crappy teams in the Big East, ACC, SEC, Big12 and Pac10 conferences. And those conferences are all expanding, why doesn’t the Pac10? If they did expand I can’t think of a team that would be more likely to be picked up than BYU.
Comment by Rusty — October 30, 2006 @ 11:02 am
*cough*Boise State*cough*
Comment by HP — October 30, 2006 @ 11:11 am
HP,
You’re not seriously suggesting that Boise State be considered for the Pac10 are you? They’ve had a couple good years in football. Anything else? Tradition? Academics? A rival to bring with them? A FAN BASE??
Sorry man, give them another 20 years of what they’re doing and you might have a point.
Comment by Rusty — October 30, 2006 @ 11:27 am
It would be appropriate for the boys to have something tattooed on the inside of their eyelids. Those tattoos would complement the ones elsewhere on their bodies.
And, in light of the moral sinkhole that college fooball has become (see this, for example) it’s nice to know of a university that does it right–no multimillion dollar practice facilities, no million dollar travel budget, including hotel stays for home games, no coaches’ salaries that make the mere teaching faculty’s look like chickenfeed.
Go Cougars. Oh yeah!
Comment by Mark B. — October 30, 2006 @ 11:56 am
I think that that decision will be based more on who is hot at the moment (not issues of tradition, academics, etc.) Those issues will be cited, but they will not be the ultimate reason. I think that the Pac-10 won’t take BYU if they don’t have to because, amongst other reasons, they are going to be unwilling to adjust their championship schedules to meet BYU’s scheduling requests. If Boise State remains a good program, I could easily see them being mentioned in Pac-10 expansion talk.
Comment by HP — October 30, 2006 @ 12:01 pm
Clark said,
Clark, I think you are overly pessimistic about the conference. I think one worst is way too strong. The conference is mediocre. For example, the Sagarin computer rakings rates the MWC as the top non-BCS conference. Better then CUSA, the WAC, the MAC, and the Sun Belt. Also, it rates us closer in strength to the Big 12 than CUSA.
Comment by Karl D. — October 30, 2006 @ 12:49 pm
I agree Karl. The MWC isn’t having an up year, but it is still consistently better than any other non-BCS conference. It won’t be long now before BYU cracks the polls. At 10-2 I suspect they would be top 20. At that rate (with nine straight wins) it is not unreasonable to think BYU couldbe ranked higher than whoever they face from the Pac 10 in the Las Vegas Bowl.
BTW – I don’t expect a Pac 10 invite to ever materialize. But if the Pac10 were to expand BYU/Utah are the most likely choices. I am not convinced it would be a lot better for the Cougs anyway though. With 8 MWC teams to play every year the Cougs could schedule 3 BCS-league opponents every year and sit comfortably in the top 20 year after year.
Comment by Geoff J — October 30, 2006 @ 2:17 pm
Mark B – BYU does have a new $50 million indoor practice facility…
HP – Boise State might be a viable candidate for inclusion in the MWC, but there is no way in hades the Pac10 would even entertain the thought of inviting them and their tiny TV market and fan base.
Comment by Geoff J — October 30, 2006 @ 2:22 pm
Geoff,
We are actually top 20 in at least one poll. A poll put at by The LV Sports Consultants (they largely determine the initial betting line) ranks BYU at #20
If you believe the oddsmakers are more knowledgable, then this poll suggests BYU is a bit underrated by both the coaches and media poll.
Comment by Karl D. — October 30, 2006 @ 2:31 pm
Geoff,
I’m so sorry it wasn’t $100 million.
Comment by Mark B. — October 30, 2006 @ 2:36 pm
You always have the best info Karl… Thanks for the link.
Mark B. – So I take you were being sarcastic in #10 then… It is hard to tell because BYU does do it right in many areas. The best thing they are doing now is exclusively recruiting athletes that come in with their eyes wide open concerning the honor code and requiring a great deal of discipline on and off the field once they arrive. See recent articles on that here and here.
Comment by Geoff J — October 30, 2006 @ 3:27 pm
I was at the BYU-Air Force game, and it was nice to see a sizeable BYU contingent there cheering for the Cougars.
Comment by Eric James Stone — October 30, 2006 @ 5:05 pm
Boise St. will not get into the Pac-10 because all they do well is football. The Pac-10 is hardly a football-only conference. This is what gives BYU a MAJOR advantage. They are competetive in not only football, but basketball, volleyball (HUGE in the Pac-10), etc. plus they have a huge fan base. Utah would make sense as the second choice.
If more and more conferences go to 12 teams with a playoff, and if/when the BIg 10 adds the 12th team, the Pac-10 will have to follow suit just like they did with having a B-Ball tourney. There is a LOT of money in the conference championship game.
Comment by Tim J. — October 30, 2006 @ 5:59 pm
Man I love the poll voters. Tulsa received more votes than BYU in each poll!
Which bowl game is the MWC champ tied to and who is it against?
Comment by Tim J. — October 30, 2006 @ 6:01 pm
Geoff, fair enough, although I’m skeptical of the Sagarin rankings. I’m not sure the Pac-10 ought be ranked #1. Even though I agree the Pac-10 doesn’t get as much attention nationally as it deserves – if only because of television coverage and time zones.
But even buying into Sagarin, there’s a huge gap between the top 6 conferences and the next 6 (which includes us). By “sucks” that’s largely what I mean. If we consistently have at least two ranked teams the end of each season with the occasional third one and at least one team in the top 10 every 3 years then I think we’ll be something.
Comment by Clark Goble — October 30, 2006 @ 6:07 pm
When did BYU become competitive in basketball?
I should add that it is in basketball that other teams in the MWC take their own. (i.e. SDSU) There’s appears to be much more parity over time in basketball than football. (Although UNLV never quite was able to rebuild to the extent some thought after their scandals)
But I’m not a basketball fan, so it’s not a big deal to me.
Comment by Clark Goble — October 30, 2006 @ 6:11 pm
I was also at the game Saturday. From where I sat, the crowd seemed almost an even split between the two schools.
While it was clear BYU was the superior team, I was disappointed with the Academy. There were a few offensive possessions where it looked like they weren’t even trying. Even duing their last (scoring) drive, they weren’t playing like they wanted to win. It was more like they didn’t want to be nearly as embarassed.
Comment by CS Eric — October 30, 2006 @ 6:29 pm
Geoff,
I’m sorry to have been so obtuse in my first comment.
Of course, my view of “doing [big time college athletics] right” is that it’s sort of like running a house of prostitution right. You can do a lot of things right, but when you’re done, you’re still running a house of ill repute.
Comment by Mark B. — October 30, 2006 @ 6:33 pm
Here are some cool stats on BYU’s defense this year from a Desnews article today:
Comment by Geoff J — October 31, 2006 @ 4:09 pm
Mark B.: my view of “doing [big time college athletics] right†is that it’s sort of like running a house of prostitution right.
So let me get this straight… you actually think big time college athletics is the moral equivalent of prostitution?
Clark: When did BYU become competitive in basketball?
What do you mean? Haven’t trips to the Big Dance and 20+ win seasons been pretty commonplace at BYU in the recent past?
Comment by Geoff J — October 31, 2006 @ 4:12 pm
Geoff,
I should have thought that the “it’s sort of” would have made it clear that, though I think that big time college athletics is indeed a dirty business, that I don’t necessarily think it’s the equivalent of prostitution.
Comment by Mark B. — October 31, 2006 @ 4:45 pm
Ok, that works. So do you think it is necessarily dirty or just often dirty? I mean do you think there is something immoral about BYU participating in big time college athletics? (Your analogy about running a prostitution house right indicates you do…)
Comment by Geoff J — October 31, 2006 @ 5:13 pm
Geoff, have they ever made it past the first round? (Honest question) What’s their ranking usually?
Comment by Clark Goble — October 31, 2006 @ 5:15 pm
The moral compromises that universities, their administrations, their admissions offices and some of their faculty make make it dirty, and I suspect that you cannot compete in the big-time arena without making those compromises. Otherwise, you’re Division III.
Comment by Mark B. — October 31, 2006 @ 5:31 pm
Clark,
Yes, the team has made it past the first round several times over the years. They have been to the Big Dance 3 out of six times this decade as well (though never past the first round in the 00′s). Not sure about top 25 appearances.
Comment by Geoff J — October 31, 2006 @ 6:20 pm
Make that 3 out of 7…
Comment by Geoff J — October 31, 2006 @ 6:20 pm
Mark B,
Why are you even commenting on this thread which celebrates the achievement of ‘suspected dirty business’? Perhaps you could start your own about the immorality of big-college athletics?
But this is a poor place to push the point. Pehaps you should push it on a thread which is celebrating BYU-Idaho athletic achievements? Er…I mean, its academic ones?
Go BYU football! After 5 years of famine! Finally rewarding those longsuffering hearts who’ve also suffered the success of thier rivals in the heights of their own despairs…..
Comment by Sam — November 2, 2006 @ 2:35 pm
Thanks for the suggestion Sam. I’ll consider doing that.
But, while you’re feeling good about yourself because of the accomplishments of others (an odd reason for feeling good–maybe that’s why I find Yankees fans so insufferable), it would be well to consider the cost at which that good feeling is purchased.
Comment by Mark B. — November 2, 2006 @ 4:12 pm
Mark,
Let’s not fight. You couldn’t know how intimately involved in BYU athletics, football in particular, I once was. It does make me feel good watching the successes of others, kinda like watching your friends and family succeed.
I can’t imagine what costs to my good feelings you are talking about. Athletics are moral. Money is amoral. Finding revenue, a lot of revenue, through public demand in sports isn’t just moral…it’s smart. Of course it can go too far, and I take it that you feel that at BYU it already has.
On a brighter note:
( Yankees fans also bug me…so we can build on that common ground).
Comment by Sam — November 3, 2006 @ 3:02 pm
Well it came to pass today. BYU cracked the AP top 25 after a long 4-year drought. Congratulations Cougs!
Comment by Geoff J — November 5, 2006 @ 9:08 pm
1. Pac-10 — The lack of interest in BYU is more due to BYU’s non-status as a research institution. This is fairly well documented. The Cougarnet archive on Yahoogroups provides as much history hear (you probably have to go back a few years).
2. So, how’s that $50 million practice facility working out? How many bowl victories have they won?
3. I don’t believe BYU has a dirty program. I also don’t think that every BYU booster is completely unscrupulous. I have family members who have participated in varsity BYU athletics, other family members employed by BYU athletics, and other family members who give a ton of money to BYU athletics. All of them agree that even in the best of cases, there are unscrupulous boosters who have the potential to cause problems.
4. I believe because BYU football is so honest, at its core, coupled with the Honor Code, that BYU will never again crack the Top 10.
5. Boston fans are as bad as Yankee fans. Don’t forget — the most expensive World Series champion of all time was the big-spending Red Sox.
6. The greatest thing about the 2004 World Series is that it completely ruined the only thing Red Sox fans had left to hang on to — the Curse. Now they are just another team that won the World Series — and from recent history, virtually everyone is winning one. Next year it’s probably Cleveland’s turn. The Red Sox are now basically the Arizona Diamondbacks with a crappier ballpark.
Comment by queuno — November 6, 2006 @ 1:34 am
Geoff,
Not only is BYU #25 in the AP poll but they moved up to #17 in the Oddsmaker top 25.
Comment by Karl D. — November 6, 2006 @ 12:10 pm