A lot has changed in a short period of time.

First Covid hit and athletic departments everywhere took a hit. I think BYU probably did better than most, in part because we had a free hand in scheduling anyone we like.

Secondly, the lawsuit that gave athletes NIL rights also seems to be a pretty big game changer. I suspect, that it will eventually mean that athletes can pretty much know how much they will make at each school.

Thirdly, the transfer portal has really shaken things up. For us, it (and coach Pope) have changed things immensely in basketball. Football may still TBD

Fourth, the expected change in playoff criteria is a really big change. It seems to me that we actually have a reasonably viable pathway in now if they move to a 12 team format. We are far from being a top 5 team, but as a recruiting tool we can honestly tell recruits there is a chance they could create a team that played in the national championship game. If it had been 12 teams last year, we would have been in.

Living in the mid south, I love being able to go to games like Toledo, MTSU, Tennessee and Central Florida.

All this leaves me to pose the question, Is independence still a negative? I think the biggest negative has been for recruiting. I'd love to know what kind of feedback FB coaches are getting. I don't think Utah can really hold the PAC-12/Power 5 thing over the head of BYU recruits like they used to.