I don't think this is as cut and dried as people think it is...Criddle yesterday said something interesting. He mentoned that what BYU will do depends largely on what the school and the program's goals are. If the goal is access, then they likely must join a conference. If it is exposure, then Indy is probably a better choice.

The big thing is wha will playoff expansion do to the current football landscape. Three are inherent issues with just trying to compare college football to college basketball. With all of the alternate routes and the success some players have had coming right out of HS have had, there has been a pretty big talent drain from college basketball. Point is, that there are several avenues to professional basketball so I donknw if it is a fair comparison. Football is altogethe different, because of the nature of the sport. Because football requires so much strength, kids right out of high school are not big enough and strong enough to compete in the NFL, nd so there has to be a developmental league, and right now college football is tha defacto league.

But the real quesiot nI am getting at is whether or not an expanded playoff will help to spread the talent across the country or will it continue to coalesce around 5-10 teams? I thin the unintendd consequence of 4 team playoff was that kids gravitaed to just a few programs, and the talent disparity between the top 4-6 teams and the rest of the country was obvious. I know baseketball is a poor comparison, but there is an argument to be made that the NCAA tournament has made it so that a greater number of teams have a legit shot at getting talented players and winning it all. Neithre Baylor nor Gonzaga wowould ever be considered a blue blood program, but they were i nthe final. Gonzaga's ascenency is a direct result of a system that allows them to compete for a championship. So the question is, would the same thing happen in college football?

I don't know what the answer is, but I am inclined to think that with a 12 teaam playoff, and NIL on its way, these two things might help to level the playing field. If taht is the case then the chouse is clear to me. BYUhas to join a conference. I personally would like them to join the AAC, with at least one other western school.