Top 10 Things BYU Should Demand from Big East

In every negotiation, there are demands from both sides that need to be considered.  Here are the 10 demands BYU should bring out in Big East negotiations.


Football Scheduling

  (1) Final game with Boise St. each year

The western division game with Boise St. must be the last regular season game.  This will give BYU and Boise fans something to look forward to all season long, creating a regional rivalry and providing a late game that will likely have conference championship and BCS implications

  (2) Seven or eight game Big East conference schedule

BYU needs to play Utah, Utah St. and a couple other non-conference games each year.  The Pac-12 decided to do a 9-game conference schedule, allowing only 3 non-conference games.  This limitation threatens rivalries and would reduce the number of games BYU plays against Pac-12 teams...games it needs to maintain recruiting exposure in the West.  A 7-8 game Big East conference schedule would allow BYU to play all 5 teams in the Western Division and 2-3 cross over games each year.

   (3) Conference weekend considerations

BYU has always avoided playing football games on the Saturday of conference weekend.  The WAC and the MWC conceeded this, and more often than not Utah St. was the opponent (for the same reasons).  The Big East will need to allow this same arrangement.

Exit Restrictions

   (4) No penalty exit (time or money), if Big East loses BCS automatic bid

Current Big East bylaws require a 27-month notification and $10 million to leave the conference.  The only reason BYU would join the Big East is to be part of a BCS automatic qualifying conference.  If the Big East loses their automatic bid, either due to poor performance, or because all automatic bids go away, BYU should be allowed to exit without delay or penalty.

TV Contracts

   (5) Maintain ESPN contract until Big East gets new TV contract

BYU has a better television deal than the Big East.  Not only is it more exposure, it also pays more.  Under a 12-team league scenario, the current TV contract would only pay $3.5 million per team, which would be a significant drop in revenue from BYU's current contract with ESPN.  The Big East is up for a TV contract renewal --and presumed major increase in revenues -- after the 2012-13 season, at which point BYU can switch TV contracts.

   (6) Replay rights for BYUtv on all conference games

BYU has invested millions of dollars in BYUtv...and not so it can show 1980s re-runs of "Anne of Green Gables".  Thousands of BYU fans have been able to watch BYU football game replays on BYUtv this season.  BYU will want to retain this option.

   (7) BYUtv option to pick up any game that is not on a national channel

If there is one thing that BYU fans enjoyed this season, it was easy TV game access.  If the Big East TV deal doesn't put a BYU game on a national channel, BYU should have the right to broadcast it nationally on BYUtv.

Championship and Bowl Locations

    (8) New western bowl tie-in

All the Big East bowl games are, not surprisingly, on the east coast.  In creating a Western Division of the Big East, the conference must create a bowl tie-in in the west, where fans of BYU, Boise St., Air Force, etc. can travel more easily to.

    (9) Big East championship game in mid-west

In going to a 12-team league, the Big East will create a championship game.  This game needs to be somewhere in the "middle" of the new conference, instead of on the East Coast.  How about the Cowboys stadium in Texas?

Basketball Scheduling

    (10) Guaranteed basketball games vs. Big East teams

There's no doubt that the basketball team has been the caboose in these conference discussions.  It's too bad, since Dave Rose has built a great basketball program. BYU basketball has always had a hard time getting big name non-conference programs to come to the Marriott Center. In joining the Big East, BYU should demand a guaranteed 3 basketball games per year in the Marriott Center vs. Big East basketball conference teams.