Some of the statements coming from Bronco Mendenhall over the past two months demonstrate that the Cougars are more the latter than the former. A team that doesn't want to actually prove it belongs in the BCS-bowl mix, rather a desperado that will follow the Hawaii model of the past season - beat a bunch of low-to-middle-tier teams en route to a dubiously glossy record in order to reach its goal.

Pity.

Taken in tandem with Mendenhall's comments - "[S]chedule down nonconference rather than up," as he put it - the Cougars' picking Northern Iowa as its replacement season opener next August is evidence that BYU prefers the path of least resistance.

Granted, the Cougars were pinched a bit in this case, on account of Nevada bailing at a late date. But the philosophy and the rhetoric emerging from Mendenhall and BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe indicates a watered-down strategy to lessen the Cougars' scheduling load - if that's what a Mountain West Conference slate, sprinkled with a pair of run-of-the-mill Pac-10 teams should be called.

To a limited extent, I can see their point of view. If a non-BCS-league team has to go undefeated to get ranked high enough to gain entry to a BCS bowl, a standard steeper than those required of teams from BCS conferences, then why not dumb the whole thing down to a manageable level?

There are a couple of reasons not to.

Most BCS leagues automatically require more of their top teams by way of their regular-season in-conference schedules than BYU faces in the Mountain West. That's indisputable. Sure, LSU had two losses and, no matter, got into the BCS championship game. It's reasonable to doubt whether the Cougars could make it through an SEC season with only two losses, although they currently recruit without SEC advantages.

BCS leagues are tougher than the Mountain West. Would BYU make it to a big bowl if they had to finish at the top of the Big 12, the Pac-10, the Big Ten?

Teams from those leagues do take weeks off in the form of Youngstown State or Akron or - oops - Appalachian State. But, as mentioned, most of their league games are considerably more difficult than what the MWC offers. Could BYU have gone undefeated two years running in the BCS leagues, especially considering it lost to Arizona, Boston College, UCLA, and Tulsa over that span?

Point is: As long as the Cougars play in the Mountain West, against UNLV, San Diego State, Colorado State, Wyoming, et al., their notion of adding Eastern Washington or Eastern Illinois or Northern Iowa, alongside UCLA and Washington and Utah State, is a bad idea. USU is at least reasonable because of its in-state value. Some of the others are not.

Yes, such a course gives BYU automatic victories. But it also comes at a price: the cost of self-respect, of playing an overmatched team, of players fighting disinterest because they know they are playing beneath themselves and feel cheapened.

Those players want to be challenged. They want to play and beat the best. They don't want to whup up on a Football Championship Subdivision team, even if it means a smoother route to a BCS bowl, and the money such a qualification brings the school.

Just ask them.

And ask the fans.

This philosophy of making the road easier, had it been adopted earlier, might have robbed BYU of some of its greatest football moments, including wins over Miami, Penn State, Notre Dame, Texas, and Texas A&M.

At a minimum, when such opponents are scheduled, BYU fans get to see their team properly challenged, guaranteed, whether it wins or loses. Scheduling lesser teams instead may help the win-loss record, but there's also the possibility that the Cougars will lose, anyway, against some other team, disqualifying themselves from a BCS bowl. Then, all they get is a weaker slate, and no real reward at the end of the rainbow, only fool's gold.

And that's a shame, one that no amount of watering down will wash away.

The question remains extended: Does BYU want to prove to a doubting nation what it's capable of, or does it want the cheapest way to a big payday?

The unfortunate answer is clear.

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* GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 1280 AM The Zone. He can be reached at gmonson@sltrib.com.