Independence paying for itself. Yeah, yeah, I know they’re joining the Big 12, but they ain’t there yet.
Let’em grovel. They put themselves in that position by going indy.
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Well, if their conference had an agreement with a NY6 bowl…
No wait, they chose Independence so for them to get to play in one, it was CFP or bust.
Enjoy your time playing your bowl game in the swamp TDS. You signed the deal, live with it.
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Remember when they were saying that independence was the wave of the future, that all the “good” programs were going independent?
That didn’t age well…
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If you haven’t been outside yet, go out and face the south…that popping noise you hear is heads exploding south of the Point of the Mountain.
12. Utah Utes (10-3)
No team in the country has faced as much adversity as Utah over the past year. The death of two players was an unimaginable tragedy, and for Utah to cope while marching to its first Pac-12 title is quite the story. Kyle Whittingham has long been one of the best coaches in college football, but his masterful performance guiding this group should earn him serious consideration for national coach of the year. The Utes are a good case for why playoff expansion makes sense. They got better as the season went along and will be an excellent representative in their first-ever Rose Bowl appearance. – Kyle Bonagura
13. BYU Cougars (10-2)
The Cougars’ 5-0 record against the Pac-12 will forever be how their 2021 season is defined, especially since they won the Holy War in the same year Utah won its first Pac-12 title. Assuming they win their bowl game, the Cougars will likely finish in the top-10 of the final AP poll, which would mark the fourth time the Cougars have accomplished that – and first since 1996. Midseason losses to Boise State and Big 12 champion Baylor marred what could have been an even more special season. – Kyle Bonagura
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Learn it…use it…enjoy life.
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Brilliant comment on the KSL article. DAMN I wish I were this clever/fast.
" Eudaimon · 1 hour ago
It’s called a body of work and strength of schedule, but your singular blinding obsession with the U is noted.Rise and pout, the cougars are out (of the NY6).
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also, here is my reply on that thread, but if it gets posted will be a miracle, as KSL does seem to hate me on anything I speak about. I guess they flagged me as a damn librul.
"Le Sigh. You ARE aware that there are 12 teams in the PAC12? You beat 5 of them; Utah beat 8 of them, and the supposed best one TWICE in beatdowns. While 6 other PAC teams beat SIX PAC12 teams, so how do you supposedly rise above them?
You. Did. Not. Win. The. PAC12.
In any way you count the numbers, you were like 6th best with only 5 wins, but do win the tiebreaker with Wazzu.
Champion of Independence for 11 seasons, going to the Independence Bowl? I dunno, seems rather fitting {shrug}"
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We joined the PAC-12 with one of the best teams we ever fielded up to that point. Then injuries whittled that away to almost nothing by season end. That repeated for a few years. We’ve only just started to recruit proper depth for a great program.
BYU will have some lessons to learn as well about maturing their program, and who knows if they can come out from the other end as more than a door mat with their singular weirdness in recruiting.
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I would argue that this is the first year we’ve had PAC-12 caliber linebackers. We always had great run stoppers but they would struggle against the speed of the tight ends and slot receivers they needed to cover. The last couple of years we’ve had maybe 1 legit PAC-12 LB, but it seems like we have 2 really high quality LB’s (Sewell & Lloyd) and some quality depth. Fortunately in this day of spread offenses, you don’t need more than 2 on the field at a time.
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Don’t forget Gionni Paul…1st team all PAC12…Chase Hansen was 1st team too. I think Cody Barton may have been as well.
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In 1994 (?) we went to Eugene and beat Oregon. They won the PAC that year so I guess Mac should have been the PAC coach of the year in 94.
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Embarrassing is, as embarrassing does.
Perhaps someone with an account on cougar board could suggest an improvement to this tee shirt - as Pac12 champs, shouldn’t they add a (red) Rose Bowl logo to the design?
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Zoobs are bad at math. Even at 5-0, Utah’s record of 8-1 leaves them 2 games out of first place.
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SMH, really went there did they?
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Anything for a buck.
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Even I have my limits on what I’d do for a buck. But them? Anything goes.
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Them some seriously desperate, needy folks last resort to that.
Maybe they really need a Snickers, some warm milk and their woobie. 
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That’s how bad they are hated. They won the PAC12 and even the Rose Bowl won’t invite them.
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Eh - I think the “BYU won the PAC12” was funny for a hot minute but has definitely run its course. T-shirts are dumb - but whoever wants to run with that, more power to them. If you are honest with yourselves - the fact that there’s a response to it on this board means that some BYU fans are getting the reaction they hoped for.
The independence bowl isn’t necessarily all that exciting - but it’s not like BYU is missing out on something better by staying in the MWC. AND - the regular season was so much better/more fun than a MWC season. Tell me you recognize that playing 5 PAC12 teams is more fun/entertaining than playing 5 MWC teams. I mean - I’ll be happy to organize the petition for you to sign demanding that Harlan get you back into the MWC if that’s what you believe.
You can’t tell me that BYU would’ve been higher ranked than they are with a MWC schedule compared to where they are with the independent schedule they had. No way the voters value 5 more wins in the MWC than they would the 5 wins in the PAC12.
Any way you look at it - Cincy was going to be the G5 team going to a NY6 game. And they deserve it - they’ve got a great team.
So let’s pretend that BYU stays in the MWC. Now they’re 10-2 and going to the premier MWC bowl game reserved for the MWC champion. Which is…the Jimmy Kimmel bowl? Played on the exact same day as the bowl BYU is in. And while I haven’t seen the numbers - I’d be absolutely SHOCKED if the payout is meaningfully larger than what BYU is getting in Shreveport. So it’s kind of a push, in my book.
For local fans - travel to LA (the state) is a little more difficult than travel to LA (the city). But part of the reason BYU liked independence was to have more games in more places - so there will be some local LDS/BYU fans from the area who will attend.
Anyway - for all of the talk of BYU getting what they deserve as far as bowls go due to being independent - the reality is that if they’d been in the MWC they’d be getting about the same. Once BYU lost to BSU, they knew where they were going. Sure - they may have hoped for more - but they knew.
So BYU essentially traded 1 bowl game at the end of the regular season (that is probably a bit of a push as far as the bowl they are getting) for 4-5 games that were better than what they’d have gotten if they were in the MWC.
Being in a G5 conference is OK. But it isn’t significantly better than independence. On the other hand - being in a P5 conference is where the benefit comes. And it isn’t like BYU was picking between P5 and independence.
Also - as I haven’t said it already - nice wins against Oregon. Looking forward to the Rose Bowl and hopefully a little bit of humility for the Big10!
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