State Of The Athletic Department: BYU Gearing Up For Power Status
Mar 1, 2022, 1:48 PM | Updated: 1:59 pm
BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe speaks at a press conference where the school announced it accepted an invitation to join the Big 12 Conference in Provo on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. At right, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby joins via video conference. BYU will play all sports provided by the Big 12 except for equestrian, rowing and wrestling. Men’s volleyball will continue to play in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, as the Big 12 does not offer the sport. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
(Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – BYU athletics has always wondered what life would be like in a power conference. Well, those dreams will soon be a reality in 16 short months, when BYU officially joins the Big 12 Conference on July 1, 2023.
BREAKING: The Big 12 Conference has invited #BYU! pic.twitter.com/sq2bAHvb0Q
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 10, 2021
Over the years, BYU has always put its athletic teams up against the toughest competition to prove they belong. They always belonged, but it just took longer than anyone expected for them to receive the coveted Power Five status. But, thanks to Texas wanting more money than they already have, it opened the doors for BYU to gain its coveted place among the elite in college athletics.
If you think the standing ovations at the nation’s capital are long during a State Of The Union address; BYU fans and boosters are still on their feet cheering as they move from uncertainty to power.
Big 12 Conference Puts BYU Athletics In Position Of Power
The Big 12 Conference was a lifeline to BYU sports. It’s almost comical to think a vocal minority within the BYU fan base asked, “does BYU need the Big 12?” They absolutely did. Independence and West Coast Conference affiliation was never the long-term solution, and BYU AD Tom Holmoe has since expressed as much.
Surreal to see #BYU with the Big 12 Conference. pic.twitter.com/mCL2qDmZ5D
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 10, 2021
There is optimism within Baylor and Oklahoma State’s athletic departments about what the new Big 12 can become. For BYU, there is a boatload of optimism. A school that has created a nationwide following being outside of power leagues now joins a conference that has paths to the biggest stages in college athletics.
It’s a powerful feeling for BYU athletics. But, how will they handle it?
#BYU AD Tom Holmoe said he's looking forward to the matchups in the Big 12 Conference. "Those are where you see the matchups a little bit differently."@kslsports
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 27, 2022
The old school version of BYU might have taken the approach of “doing more with less.” Early indications would point that BYU isn’t taking that route as they ramp up for the Big 12. Holmoe has visions of new facilities over the next five to ten years. There are already signs of increased support staff in the football program. There are more financial incentives for coaches to stay at BYU as the TV money that BYU will experience in the Big 12 (50% cut through the first two years of Big 12 membership) is more significant than anything the school has experienced. Remember the days of making $1.5 million per year from the old “mtn.” deal?
#BYU announced five new additional hires to its football staff.#BYUFootball #GoCougs https://t.co/69XNUtrloU
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 25, 2022
The biggest gain from BYU joining the Big 12 Conference is that they have influential allies going to bat for them. We’re seeing signs that having partners is essential in college athletics these days. The “Alliance” between the ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-12; Texas and Oklahoma aligning to move to the SEC; it’s sometimes about who you know that gives you power. BYU has some influential folks now advocating for them.
Football Has Clear Goals In Sight
The Independence era is coming to a close for BYU football. Honestly, the project worked better than anyone could have imagined. From scheduling to TV arrangements, independence served a valuable role for BYU.
Was it perfect? No, not at all. But it was the move that BYU needed to make more than a decade ago.
One of the downfalls to independence was the question, what does all of this mean?
Okay, you scheduled Tennessee, but what are you playing for if you’re not undefeated? The counterargument was always you get to provide unique experiences to the student-athletes, fans, and everyone associated with BYU football. That it definitely did. But no matter how good a season was, it would have an outcome that looked like a lot of low-end Group of Five programs would receive, a pre-Christmas bowl game against a G5 opponent.
Watch the Sugar Bowl showdown between the @SEC & the @Big12Conference at 11 am on New Year's Eve and then celebrate the big night in New Orleans! 🏈 🎊🥳🎉🍾 https://t.co/B0sX3RAjAi pic.twitter.com/oJ3GZuWQD5
— Allstate Sugar Bowl (@SugarBowlNola) February 18, 2022
The goals are now clear. Win a Big 12 Championship and have a chance to play in the Sugar Bowl, or better yet, be in the mix for the College Football Playoff. What helps make the goals clear is being in a league that will give you nine opponents that you’re familiar with every year.
Routines can help with preparation time, familiarity, installing a game plan. It makes things easier for Kalani Sitake and his staff. When you’re playing many new teams every year, you’re starting from scratch and don’t have the institutional knowledge of teams as you would being in a league. So it’s a big help.
It will also help because it clearly defines how Sitake will build his football roster. He now knows first-hand he has to construct a roster that can take down Big 12 Champion Baylor. Sitake saw what the physicality of a Big 12 Champion felt like. He can fill out his 123-man roster to follow that same path or add personnel that can attack the weaknesses of the top league foes.
Having goals and high-end bowl games tied into the conference alone will make for a better experience with BYU football going forward.
Women’s Sports Are Better Than Ever
After the fall season in this academic year, BYU was No. 1 in the Learfield Cup standings. The Learfield Cup compiles points based on the championship finishes of all the sports within an athletic department. BYU, best in the land through the fall. A big reason for that is the rise of women’s sports at BYU.
BYU Women’s Soccer had a magical run to the program’s first-ever College Cup before falling in the National Championship to Florida State. The powerhouse Women’s Volleyball team made another run to the Sweet 16 and finished No. 11 in the final Top 25 poll.
The 2021-22 WCC Regular Season Champs, @byuwbb! 👏🎉#BYU #GoCougs #NCAAW pic.twitter.com/iSvT0UWIqE
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 26, 2022
Cross Country All-American Whittni Orton took home the 2021 National Championship. Then you add the women’s basketball team having its best season in program history, and BYU softball is off to a solid start for its 2022 campaign.
All of this comes at a time when there is a push to create more equality between men’s and women’s sports nationwide. As a result, BYU women’s athletes are receiving department-wide NIL deals, and more resources than ever before are being pumped into these teams that are now creating their own legion of diehard BYU fans.
When BYU gets to the Big 12 Conference, they don’t want to succeed in one or two sports. They want an entire department competing for titles in the Big 12, and having talented women’s teams elevates those efforts and the athletic department as a whole.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
