Does anyone really believe that if we were roughly even in the Holy War and not lost 3-4 head-scratchers vs G5 schools that we’d be in a P5 already?
That seems to be what this guy is saying.
Consider:
We were a fixture in the polls, and largely dominated the rivalry from the late 70 tough then 90s and no P5 invite then.
Heisman, Doak, QB U, and a National
Title for heavens sake...
Still, No P5 invite...
Let that sink in.
A solid overall Athletics program (top
20ish) for 50 years and generally a pretty profitable one. No invite.
64K seat stadium and 20Kish BB arena with a top 1-3 best-in-the-west attendance in each. No invite
A growing academic profile/ranking. No invite.
We pine for it, but we’re just not invited in. Time after time after time and we sulk in our sub-par affiliation status.
There’s really one reason we’re not in a P5 conference:
“Cultural fit.”
Some see this a nobody wanting to either be associated with nor legitimizing our religion... or at least that “No Sunday Play” is a deal-breaker.
Others argue that it’s academic/ research-related, or political alignments.
Others say it’s because of a UT-like “Prima Donna” attitude that we would bring.
While I love the “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” motivation, and the idea that “winning cures all ills,” it’s clear that BYU cannot “win its way into” a P5 conference.
We’d be in one already.
Money talks, but these decisions are made by university presidents (academics with a political forte) and BYU is a social pariah to most of them. It will take P5 ADs, P5 conference commissioners, broadcast partners, and BYU’s leadership presenting an undeniably convincing case that either the Big12 or PAC-12 would be financially idiotic not to add BYU.
Get ourselves into a NY6 bowl this and that will open some eyes for sure (We’d be taking “their” money, you see), but we’ve seen that’s just not enough.
In reality, chaos is likely our best friend to lead us to the Holy Land of P5 status/$$.
Things like:
1) COVID-19 related financial crises in P5 athletic programs,
2) intra-conference strife and law-suits (Nebraska players vs B1G),
3) player unionization/pay demands and the unavoidable ensuing chaos,
4) media contract renewals (2023-4),
5) A chaotic CFP selection process this year with no good way to compare unbalanced resumes. For example, it’s completely conceivable that a 7-0 PAC12 champ Utah or Washington may get left out for 10-1 SEC/ACC runners-up, or 8-1 B1G champ.
Chaos.
That’s one of our best chances out of this non-P5/non-G5 purgatory were in.