BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe met with the media this past week, and after hearing him answer questions for about an hour, the only thing that seems certain to me is that nothing is certain.
The Cougars are one year into football independence, but are they really in it for the long haul? When asked if he was planning to stay independent for the long-term, Holmoe replied, "What does long term mean?"
Although he said it with a laugh, Holmoe wasn't kidding. BYU is living life as an independent basically year to year.
Everything could change when the current BCS contract expires in two years. After that, it's anybody's guess where BYU will stand. They could be thriving as an independent with their own television network, or they could be on the outside looking in with no access to BCS money or BCS bowl games.
Holmoe did say there are open lines of communication with the Big-12 Conference, but any speculation that BYU will be invited to join has died down. The only thing that would be a deal breaker is the Sunday play issue. Everything else he said is negotiable, and that includes BYUtv.
As far as bowl games go, Holmoe said he was happy to have this year's Poinsettia Bowl and the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in 2013 already booked. Beyond that, who knows? When the BCS deal expires, not only could the way teams are selected to play in BCS bowl games, but also every bowl game.
Regarding the rivalry game against Utah, while Holmoe is confident the two teams will play in 2013, an agreement still hasn't been reached, and there's no telling when and if the Utes and Cougars will play again. When Utah has to play a Big Ten team every season starting in 2017, there might not be room to schedule BYU each and every year.
So where will BYU be when all the dust settles? Nobody knows. That much is certain.
