CougarNation.com - Chip Brown talks with CougarNation and shares his thought on BYU and BigXII

June 20, 2012

Kacey Robbins
CougarNation.com Publisher

With the uncertainty of where college football is headed in the way of postseason play, it seems there is constant change and continual evolution. Looking back on the past 20 years we have seen several changes in the post season. We saw the evolution of the bowl alliance to Bowl Championship Series and then saw that the "mid major" was getting more access.
We are now seeing the possibilities of a 4 team playoff in different scenarios. Another piece involved in all this, and something that BYU fans have had a constant interest and opinion on, is conference realignment. The question of the unknown and the possibility of potentially being left out is something that some BYU fans are concerned may come to fruition. My opinion is that BYU will not be left out in big time college football.

Watching rival Utah get selected to the Pac12, and knowing that BYU would not get invited It had seemed that the best fit would be with the BigXII. After Colorado left for the Pac12 with Utah, and Nebraska headed to the Big10, it seemed like the right time for BYU to get invited but, unfortunately, it wasn't. Later, with Texas A&M making a move to the SEC and Missouri rumored to also make a change, the thought was that surely the BigXII would need to expand. Now that BYU had the flexibility to move because of Independence it seemed it would be at the top of the list. However, TCU was added, followed later by West Virginia.
Chip Brown of oranglebloods.com began tweeting what he had been hearing from his connections within the conference and at the University of Texas. He instantly became popular for knowing the next steps taking place within the BigXII --who was leaving, who coming - and quickly became someone people turned to for information. Even today, he is talking about Notre Dame possibly moving its other sports programs out of the Big East and into the BigXII.
He shared with CougarNation.com some insight on what took place with BYU and how close they were to joining the BigXII. He first talked about when BYU was initially on the radar.
"The Big 12 identified BYU and Air Force as potential expansion targets when Dan Beebe was commissioner. BYU was a serious candidate for expansion until last September, when OU destabilized the Big 12 when it tried to go to the Pac12. At that point, BYU officials were turned off by the instability and backed away, saying it cherished its independence."
This would be a time to be very careful for BYU. If Oklahoma did leave to the Pac12, was Oklahoma State going to go with them? That would leave 7 possibly 6 teams left in the conference. If Texas was without Oklahoma would they want to stick around with Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Texas Tech? So with all the factors, BYU cherished its independence.
Chip continues. "As the Big 12 came back to life when OU's end run failed, BYU had already moved on and really wasn't interested and the Big 12 was moving on too, looking at TCU, WVU and Louisville."
And from there we know that TCU and WVU were added. Why did they add TCU and WVU over BYU? According to Chip, it was because of BYU's decision. "BYU turned away from the Big 12 first. So that was a downfall."
Now, without playing a Championship game we continually hear that the BigXII may want to get back to twelve. We have heard of Louisville, BYU and most recently FSU and Clemson as possible mates. When asked if the BigXII has any interest in BYU now, Chip responded that they have none.
So, many BYU fans will wonder if Sunday play was an issue. According to Chip, "The Big 12 could have worked around it when there was mutual interest. As time went on and other options presented themselves to the Big 12, BYU's Sunday play and LDS may have become more of a "high maintenance" factor."
As talked about before, this is a constant change and evolution that looks like there is no end in the near future.

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