I sometimes wonder about the point of college football. After a tough loss to Boise State on Saturday BYU’s season, at least from a national perspective is over. An independent school with one loss to a Mountain West team with a losing record is not making the college football playoffs, we all know this.
Obviously, for Cougar fans the season will press on but for the onlooker un-tied to the situation, what’s the point at this juncture?
It is a serious problem that college football faces, if all you have is regional alliances to prey on how do you ever expect to grow your sport to the point where the person without one of those allegiances is interested?
BYU shouldn’t be swept out of sight and out of mind nationally until bowl season because of one bad day at the office, but they will be. They will escape the talking points of national pundits and go back to being the intermountain west’s cute little pet project.
It’s disgusting, BYU is a nationally relevant program, they have just as much of a right to remain in the conversation as a two-loss Texas will. Or a one-loss Notre Dame, but because of where it is situated in the country it won’t get that kind of attention.
With this loss a new years six bowl seems out of reach for BYU. It shouldn’t but this is the state of college football we are living in. This loss could lock BYU into the independence bowl against, checks notes, Conference USA? Who in their right mind wants to watch that?
This will be one of the best things about the Cougar’s move to the Big 12, it will allow for better access to more talented bowl opponents.
For now though, it’s a crying shame, an uber-talented team, with national branding behind it, and aspirations of a new years six bowl, now destined to play UAB. What kind of a product is that?