Wisconsin Deal Could be a Trend For BYU
BYU and Wisconsin agree on series.
Thursday’s insider report by the Wisconsin State Journal that BYU and Wisconsin have agreed to meet on the gridiron is something that has been anticipated for a long time in Provo.
The two programs have been talking and trying to put a deal in place since shortly after the Cougars became a football independent.
If accurate, the Badgers will be the second Big Ten team added to BYU’s schedule in the past few months. The school announced a game with Nebraska in 2015 in February.
Neither school has officially announced the series at this point, but Badger beat reporter Tom Mulhern says that a UW source informed him that BYU will travel to Madison next season, with the Badgers making a return trip to Provo. The source did not specify a year for the return game.
New System Could Help BYU
Wisconsin has reportedly been open about its desire to increase the level of competition in its out-of-conference games and a program like BYU fits the bill perfectly. This season, the Badgers face Northern Iowa, Utah State and UTEP outside of Big Ten play. Next year they step things up with the Cougars and Arizona State expected to be on the slate.
With strength of schedule sure to be a key component of how teams will be evaluated for the four-team playoff that will determine a national champion in the future, many programs from the big five conferences could be looking to follow Wisconsin’s lead. That could be a very good thing for Tom Holmoe and BYU.
The Cougars have both a perennial top 25 program and plenty of flexibility in their future schedules to accommodate some of the big name programs that might be looking to bolster their resumes for the selection committee. Some of those programs will view BYU as a regularly-ranked team that they believe they can defeat.
Juggling the 2013 Schedule
Although a date has yet to be announced for the game at Camp Randall Stadium next season, it appears that there are two possible dates that would work for both the Cougars and the Badgers.
Wisconsin has a a bye week scheduled for November 9th, in the middle of its Big Ten schedule. The other date that would work for both programs would be September 14th, a date that is currently open in both schedules.
There are rumors circulating that ESPN would like the game to be played in November. BYU currently has a number of open dates late in the season and would probably prefer the November date as well, however Wisconsin may not be interested in stepping out of Big Ten play that late in the conference race.
If the game were to be scheduled for September 14th, that would mean that BYU’s TBA game at Washington State would almost assuredly have to take place the week of August 31st. The PAC-12′s policy of not interrupting conference play with non-conference games gives the two programs little wiggle room beyond the first three or four weeks of the season.
BYU already has games scheduled against Texas on Sept. 7th, Boise State on Sept. 21st and date with Utah in the fourth week of September according to an announcement made last week by Utah AD Chris Hill.
Click here for the 2013 BYU Football Schedule
This is great news!!! Not only do I look forward to catching a game at Camp Randall but I also hope we can leverage this into a H-H-N. Having watched the Packers play at Lambeau field, however, the “frozen tundra” shouldn’t be our goal. I’d love to see the Cougars play a neutral site game at Soldier Field in front of Chicago’s BYU fans.
I also agree that the new playoff format and its emphasis on strength of schedule will encourage national title aspirants to play BYU. No longer will a full BCS conference slate plus 3-4 patsies be good enough (I’m looking at you, SEC). The big boys are going to have to add more teams ranked 20-50 to their schedules and since (sadly) BYU isn’t yet dangerous enough to be perceived as a threat (i.e. perennial Top 10 team), we’ll be included in that group. Throw in a national fanbase and it’s easy to see why ESPN wants to help set the games up, too. If BYU figures out how to produce a one-loss or undefeated season occassionally, even more teams will want to play BYU in order to prove themselves. The future is looking bright for Cougar Nation!
I could not agree more with you Gregory, I just hope that Wisconsin will come to Provo in 2014 and then like you said play at a neutral site like Lambeau field or Soldier Stadium.
If Utat can schedule games against the Big 10 then so can we
I believe the best one can hope for in scheduling is to land good ‘names’, as the fortunes of a team can change rather quickly in couple years, making it difficult to land good ‘teams’.
Under that premise, looking at the 2013 schedule, I see the names of 6 teams that (today) qualify as “Good to Great Program”:
Texas, Boise State, Utah, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Wisconsin
I see one program that (today) qualify as “Decent to Solid”:
Houston
I see three programs that (today) qualify as “OK to Trending Upward”
Utah State, Hawaii (w/out Chow hire, I’d qualify as “Average”, Washington State (w/out Leach hire, I’d qualify them as “Poor”
On the whole, I believe to be taken seriously on a national level (not for fan-following but for on-the-field production), BYU will need to have a schedule with two more “Decent to Solid” teams on it, and will need to go undefeated or 1-loss against this type of schedule. This will (rightfully) propel the Cougars to the national discussion.
@ Galt_BYU
I agree that we could use a couple more “name” teams on the schedule. But looking at your list, I disagree that we have three poor teams. Wa State isn’t a great team, but they are in the Pac 12. None of the teams are the paties like WI (or most SEC and others)play this year like Northern Iowa and UTEP. All of the teams have a level of respectability to them. If we had one more top 10-15 team on the schedule, it would be a very comparable schedule to any out there.
But regardless of schedule, we are going to have to go undefeated or maybe only have one loss to a top echelon team to garner any discussion.
@SoCal
I agree we have no ‘poor’ teams; however, USU, WSU are simply OK.
WSU has come away with a ‘W’ 9 times from 08-11, only 6 against FBS schools. Without Leach, they’d have to qualify as a “Poor” team, regardless of conference affiliation.
USU has gone bowling once between 08-11; take away last year, they’ve averaged 3 wins per year against FBS schools…while playing in the WAC
Hawaii has finished with a winning record twice from 08-11…while playing the WAC
I believe all these schools could qualify for bowl game in 2012, which makes them up and coming. But as of July 2012, I think it would be hard to qualify them as anything beyond ‘OK’.
The bottom line, though, is we gotta win…no more Texas or BC or Arizona or USU mishaps like in years past.
This is really strengthens the argument for independence. Those who are not renewing their season tickets will regret not having their seats anymore in 2013 and beyond. Fans just needed to be patient. We really have seen Tom do some great things.
I think this schedule will get us into a BCS game even with one loss, unlike previous seasons for Boise, TCU, Utah, etc. where they had to go undefeated. Here’s why:
Texas: Always one of the best in the Big 12
Georgia Tech: Always solid in the ACC.
Notre Dame: OK, not great recently, but still very talented.
Boise: Should be the best in the Big East.
Utah: Somewhat competitive in the Pac-12 (oh wait, they had a losing record in Pac-12 play… HA!)
Washington State: Should be solid with Mike Leach, plus simply being in the Pac-12 brings some credibility.
Wisconsin: Back-to-back BIG 10 champs, nuff said.
Hawaii, Utah St., Houston: All solid teams.
Honestly, this is like playing in a BCS conference. 7 games against AQ teams, and Wash St. is the only one that doesn’t have a lot of respect right now, but they might even be really good next year.
BYU has solid brand recognition. That’s what made it possible for the Cougars to go independent and that’s what will make it possible for them to continue landing big names. BYU will never be a football blue blood, but they’ll certainly be attractive.
And, based on 2011 results and rankings, BYU’s 2013 slate is tougher than what Utah will face.
http://www.planetbyu.com/2012/07/byus-2013-slate-can-stand-against-any-bcs-schedule/
Honestly, seriously, I would like to see us schedule UNLV long-term now. Las Vegas is great, and we could use the easy win each season.
Interesting . . . a top team from a top conference wants to upgrade their schedule so they sign up for a series with BYU.
A mediocre team from a mediocre conference wants to dumb down their schedule so they walk away from one of the best rivalries in the country.
The difference in quality between these two BYU opponents and their conferences is very clear.
Not mentioned above, but a satisfying factor to me, is BYU scheduling a winner in the
I second the UNLV talk. I am comfortable with the number of BCS schools we’re scheduling, and it looks like some of those games will start landing in November soon. Now we need to upgrade the WAC opponents to old MWC foes. I would love to renew the rivalries with UNLV, CSU, Wyoming, and especially Air Force. Sorry Lobos, slating UNM would not be an upgrade on anything these days.
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