‘Smartest Move In The World’ For BYU To Join A Conference If Playoff Expands Earlier

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – sports.ksl.com’s Scott Mitchell said that it would be the “smartest move in the world” for BYU to join a conference in football if the College Football Playoff expands earlier than projected due to COVID-19.

During a recent show of KSL Unrivaled, Mitchell and co-host Alex Kirry discussed a Yahoo! Sports article on if the “financial fallout from coronavirus” would “lead to College Football Playoff expansion.”

After breaking down the structure of an expanded playoff field, Mitchell and Kirry talked about how it would impact the Cougars’ football program.

“You (BYU) jump right into a conference immediately,” said Mitchell.

Looking back on the past decade of #BYU sports, where does the Cougars’ Declaration of Independence rank in the best moments from the past decade?

✍️: https://t.co/eoWExSxxVj pic.twitter.com/ZDhoDrATfz

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) December 30, 2019

College Football Playoff Expansion

Just like most of the globe, the world of college athletics has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. In March, the NCAA canceled the championship tournaments for men’s and women’s college basketball.

After the cancellation of the tourneys, sports.ksl.com’s Mitch Harper detailed the losing the NCAA tournament affected local teams like BYU and Utah State.

Almost a month later, many fans are wondering if and how the virus will alter college football this fall. The financial ramifications of losing or even postponing games would be substantial for college football.

Yahoo! Sports’ article suggested that the financial impact of coronavirus could speed up the timeline for an expansion of the College Football Playoff. Currently, the Playoffs only features the top four teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision or FBS.

“I think we were moving in that direction anyway,” one conference commissioner. “Could it be accelerated by something like this? It’s a good point. Revenue is going to be an issue. It’s not on the front burner yet, but it’s a legitimate question.”

Many thanks to VP @Mike_Pence for taking the time to talk to the commissioners today about college football and protecting the health of our students. We hope to begin this fall right on time. The VP understands how important it is to return when it’s safe. Thank you! #CFBPlayoff

— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) April 15, 2020

“People can speculate anything about this (College Football Playoff expansion), but no one knows exactly what will happen,” College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock told Yahoo! Sports. “It’s fun for people to speculate, but no one can see the future for sure.”

Mitchell said that an earlier than projected expansion would not only be a positive move financially but would benefit college football fans as well.

“No question about it,” said Mitchell. “These bowl games or these playoff games could be massive. They’d be well attended. There’s a lot of TV audience that would watch all of these games.

There might not be live sports to watch right now, but here’s something to look forward to.

We are exactly 3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ days from the #CFBPlayoff #NationalChampionship in Miami!@2021Miami 🏈🏆 pic.twitter.com/cLcAgwiaXs

— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) March 18, 2020

The former Utah and NFL QB continued by saying that the benefits wouldn’t just be regional, but would stretch across the United States.

“I think it expands interest from just a regional part of the country to all the way across the country cause it’s an issue for all of college football,” Mitchell said. “It’s such a beautiful sound reason to do this… because we’re all gonna benefit from it.”

The Yahoo! Sports article highlighted that “there’s an average of nearly $470 million paid out annually to the conferences” and “for the Power Five leagues, a ballpark average payout each season is nearly $70 million. But using $70 million as a baseline, that means each program in a Power Five league gets more than $5.5 million annually from the CFP.”

BYU Football & The CFP

BYU’s pursuit to join a Power Five conference is a secret to nobody. The Cougars’ decade an FBS independent has had its ups and downs. Joining a Power Five conference would not only give BYU stability in its yearly schedules but allow the Cougs greater access to college football’s highest stage, the College Football Playoff.

If the Playoff were to expand from four teams and feature berths for an “at-large” team or two, the Cougars might not have to join the ranks of the Power Five to obtain the same access that teams from P5s have.

Today’s Cougar Sports Saturday (#BYUCSS) Poll of the Day

How much longer can Independence be sustainable for #BYU?

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) June 29, 2019

“If you go into a conference and you become the Boise State of that conference, which BYU potentially could become again,” said Mitchell. “They (BYU) become a dominant player and now you’re going to the college football playoff. It’s not like you’re going to the Las Vegas Bowl. Your ceiling is not capped now. You can get invited to the dance so you now you’re a BYU team that’s going to the College Football Playoffs and maybe you go every other year or maybe you go two or three years in a row because you’re that team and it does a tremendous amount for your recruiting.

Mitchell added that reaching the Playoff via a non-Power Five conference could enable a future invite to a Power Five for BYU.

“It does a tremendous amount for your fan base. It does a tremendous amount for your visibility and then comes the money because more than likely in the transition to Power Five conference,” added Mitchell. “If this happened quickly it would be the smartest move in the world for BYU to move to that conference. I think there’s nothing that would be bad about it at all.”