BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall answered several questions about the Cougars' future football schedules during his roundtable discussion with reporters on Wednesday, and basically said that scheduling is getting a little less difficult after a rough first year of independence that included a generally awful home schedule in November,
Mendenhall pretty much echoed what athletic director Tom Holmoe told me the day before the Armed Forces Bowl -- that things will get better in the scheduling department if BYU stays independent for the long haul.
Although reporters who have talked to Utah athletic director Chris Hill recently continue to suggest that the Utah-BYU football rivalry game beyond 2012 is in jeopardy, Holmoe and Mendenhall continue to talk as if the rivalry continue.
I asked Mendenhall today about the future of the rivalry now that the Pac-12 has announced a scheduling agreement with the Big Ten, which ostensibly would mean Utah would have one fewer nonconference game to schedule each year if it is locked into playing a Big Ten opponent in one of its first three games. Hill has already said the Utes want a cupcake game every year, like in 2012 when they will open against the Big Sky's Northern Colorado.
"I haven't got any vibes [that the rivalry game is in trouble], and I think both schools would hate to be the one to then say, 'We are not going to play,'" Mendenhall said. "Because no matter what happens, even though there is going to be that new [Pac-12/Big Ten] agreement, that is one more game of the three preseason games that we would have a chance to select from. And it might move to the opening game, it might move to [game] No. 2 or 3, but I don't see that [discontinuation of the rivalry] happening, because I don't think either school would want to be the one to say, 'that is going to happen.'
"It was different playing it earlier in the year. It was quite a bit different from a perspective of always having that game looming over you. And no matter what else happened, if you hadn't played Utah yet, or you hadn't played BYU yet, that had so much to do with maybe how the team was perceived.
And I think we actually benefitted a little bit from playing that game early this year. Not that we played well, by any means, but it uncovered some things that hadn't been uncovered yet, especially at the offensive side of the ball and the quarterback play, that was a sign. The Texas game showed a little bit of it, but we thought Texas was really good on defense. It was a one-point loss. That really didn't [give us] a sense of urgency to make a change, or say, wait, this might not work. We weren't to that point.
We got to that point after playing the University of Utah early on. So I think we benefitted from the game as a program in moving forward, not necessarily from the outcome of that game. But without that [game] that early, the decision we made with Riley [Nelson] might have been two or three or four weeks maybe even later than that, which ultimately, I am not sure we would have had as good of a record, or played as good of football."

Here's Mendenhall's comment when he was asked how the 2012 schedule is coming together and when it will be released in full:

"It is coming together well. I don't know when we intend to release it, or why we haven't, because I think all the contracts are in except one. But in 2012, there's a nice balance. I think we already announced the Boise State series. So that starts next year. Hawaii and Oregon State, we have those guys again. Georgia Tech has been announced already. So I am not going to say anything that hasn't already been talked about. There is only one contract still out -- so maybe we are waiting for that to come in, so until that happens [it won't be released].
Washington State was announced, so that will be our opener.
[2013] looks really good, with some strong middle-to-end [opponents]. 2013 will be the toughest schedule we will have played. When you see it, you will say, 'what, is he crazy?' But it is good.
And then 2014 is almost done. The way I see it, it is done. But I guess I can't say that, either.
Then 15, 16, 17 and 18 look like they are about half done. So that's as much as I can tell you without saying anything."


Based on what has been announced so far, here's BYU's 2012 football schedule:

Sept. 1 -- vs. Washington State
Sept. 8 -- vs. Weber State
Sept. 15 -- at Utah
Sept. 22 -- at Boise State
Sept. 29 -- vs. Hawaii
Oct. 5 -- vs. Utah State
Oct. 13 -- vs. Oregon State
Oct. 20 -- at Notre Dame
Opponents Announced, But Exact Dates Unknown
at Georgia Tech
at New Mexico State
at San Jose State
vs. Idaho
If Bowl Eligible: Poinsettia in San Diego vs. MWC No. 2