This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

So, yeah, it would be great for BYU's football program and for college football fans in the state of Utah if the Cougars find a way into the Big 12. Think of the possibilities of both BYU and Utah competing in two separate P5 conferences: BYU playing host to Oklahoma on the same weekend Utah plays host to USC. Nobody loses there — unless it's the home teams on the field, and Utah has already exhibited the benefits to its program and its progress with a strong ascension in the Pac-12. Utah football is better than BYU football — and part of sustaining that fact is because of the league in which it plays.

If, however, BYU does not get into the Big 12, its best competitive course is to remain as an independent.

The counters to that position are fairly reasonable and often repeated: The Cougars need to be in a league, even if it's the Mountain West or the American, so as to have a better — read: easier — route to a NY6 bowl game. BYU needs league rivals to play and something to play for after its first loss, in order to maintain interest in its season, rather than suffering its first loss as an independent and having not much for which to play other than a prearranged showing in, say, the Poinsettia Bowl. In other words, as an independent, it's all or nothing, and that almost always descends into nothing since the Cougars haven't sniffed going undefeated or even 11-1 since leaving the MWC.

All of that has merit, as does acknowledging the ongoing problem of putting together a consistently compelling schedule late in BYU's annual calendar, since most desirable opponents are busy with their league schedules in November, same as it ever was.

But the flip side to those arguments is even more significant for a football team ever so desperately trying to prove its worth, and its P5 worthiness, without the financial and recruiting and perception advantages that come with actually belonging to one of the top conferences. Joining a perceived lesser league at this point would do no real good for BYU getting substantial footing in any of those aforementioned areas, and other than the easier access to a NY6 bowl game, doing so would push the Cougars in the opposite direction.

Why would Tom Holmoe want to place his football program back in the Mountain West, forcing it to play a schedule that, on many Saturdays, would force-feed his fan base matchups with Wyoming and New Mexico and UNLV and Fresno State and Colorado State and Nevada and Air Force and San Jose State and Hawaii — all blocking opportunities to play more P5 teams?

Boise State, no doubt, is a fine opponent, a regional foe with national heft worth playing every year. In-state rival Utah State and maybe San Diego State are good gets. But the rest of the Mountain West doesn't carry much weight, even as playing those teams would hand the Cougars more wins.

As for the argument that getting into a New Year's Day bowl is so very important, under BYU's current independent setup — at least in a good year and the Cougars are attempting to make more and more years good — it plays a relatively steady diet of teams that it would be happy to face in a bigger bowl. Only in independence can BYU play those kinds of teams, week after week.

Some of those P5 teams might be having a down year, but nobody can know that in advance. Granted, if the Cougars were to play Arizona or UCLA or Utah or West Virginia or Michigan State or Mississippi State in a NY6 bowl, terrific. But they are playing all of those teams this year, having a chance to demonstrate for the country what it's got. This particular season, it doesn't have enough. That's a problem for BYU to solve.

It's also worth remembering that dominating the MWC, making a NY6 bowl doesn't always mean BYU would get a great opponent, an opponent that suddenly would give the Cougars all kinds of cred. Ask Urban Meyer's Utah about that, having dismantled a Pitt team that had no business playing the Utes in the Fiesta Bowl.

Bottom line: Independence isn't perfect. It's flawed. We get it. For Holmoe, it must be a pain. Whether it's sustainable or not for BYU, beats me. But it's better than falling back to the Mountain West or any other lesser league. It's better than looking for a faux or counterfeit or easier path to success so the Cougars have a prettier record and an improved shot at the end. It's better than playing that old slate of opponents, most of which would neither excite fans that already have lived through that or players who wouldn't be switched on by competing against it or top recruits who wouldn't be impressed or lured in by it.

If BYU doesn't get in the Big 12, it's best served to stay right where it is — and try to better itself and its schedules, even if it is not yet prepared to master them.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on the Zone Sports Network, 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.