Reports: BYU to leave Mountain West, become a Football Independent

By Kevin Kelley -

The BYU Cougars may leave the Mountain West conference to become an independent in football, multiple sources have reported. BYU would join the WAC in all other sports.

Currently, the only independent schools in football are Army, Navy and Notre Dame.

The move could come as early as Thursday. ESPN’s Andy Katz and Fox Sports.com’s Jeff Goodman have been reporting on this story via Twitter:

Katz: Utah’s move to the Pac-10 was impetus for BYU considering independent football; re-join WAC in all other sports.

Katz: BYU closer to independent as football; wac rest; MWC made run at FSU-Nevada Tuesday but both agreed to stay in WAC.

Goodman: Hearing from multiple sources there’s a strong possibility that BYU goes to the WAC in hoop and becomes independent in football.

ESPN stated that BYU was “stunned” that they weren’t invited to the Pac-10 after Colorado accepted and then the conference turned to Utah as it’s 12 member.The Cougars want to “differentiate themselves from Utah” and become the “Notre Dame of the West.”

In order for BYU to play as an independent in 2011, they most formally notify the Mountain West Conference by September 1, 2010.

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Comments (4)

Wow…..that is a stunning move. And while as a WAC fan,I love to see BYU rejoin in football…..as long as we got ’em back in other sports,it could only help us.

and BYU would be a awesome independant,much like Miami and the ‘Noles used to be.

Epic win for BYU fans. Now games can be watched all over the country on BYU-TV. They are already set up to broadcast these games. BYU-TV is on the cheapest package for both DISH Network & DIRECTV.

This is a smart move for BYU, now they will recieve automatic bowl bids now that they are Independent

So much for the BYU and Utah rivalry. With BYU as an independent and Utah part of the PAC 12, the rivalry no longer needs to exist and will likely become less and less important in the future. Both teams will pick-up rivals of their own in the future.