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BYU is in college football purgatory.

The Cougars aren't in heaven, but they're not quite in hell, either.

They're not good enough to make a New Year's Day bowl, to become truly relevant. And they don't suck enough to go bowl-less.

They can't win every game, but they'll win enough to qualify for a little postseason affair that isn't enticing enough to capture anyone's imagination.

They're stuck.

They're trapped in an aggravating version of Groundhog Day, living the same existence, suffering the same fate, season after season after season. It's one of the most vexing aspects to being an independent. After an early-season loss or two, a loss or two that always come(s), there's no conference title for which to play, no trophy, no league rivalries to get into, no despised teams to edge out, no compelling midseason drama, no second chance for improved play down the stretch.

Just a guaranteed trip to the Miami Beach Bowl, or whatever this year's booby prize is called, against some equally uninspiring opponent.

BYU is the clichéd actor, stroking his chin, asking himself the question: What's my motivation here?

The other day, rummaging through his recollections of another loss, Bronco Mendenhall was reduced to talking about how pleased he was that the Cougars "tried really hard" against Central Florida. He was disappointed by the overtime defeat on the road, sure, but goll-darned pleased that the defense put up a much better effort this time around. The guys never gave up. There were bright moments within the darkening gloom.

A few.

Which is a little like observing that, after the wicked smashup on the county two-lane, the car was totaled, but the leather on the bucket seats was still OK.

That's what BYU's season has come to. Looking for some positive to grab ahold of. No big surprise. It's what it always comes to. It's what it will always come to — until the Cougars find a way to either go undefeated, earning a trip to a big bowl, or convince a major conference to invite them to membership. At least in a long league season, there's room to hope to climb the ladder for a better result somewhere down the line.

In independence, there's isolation and loneliness and, after that first defeat, no one to impress. Just a fade to black. Being on ESPN sometimes makes it worse.

BYU is nobody's rival. It is nobody's target. It is nobody's neighbor. It is nobody's enemy. It is … nobody.

The Cougars are wandering solitarily through college football's no-man's land.

Look at what's left on their schedule: Nevada at home on Saturday, Boise State in Boise, Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro, UNLV at home, Savannah State at home, Cal at Berkeley.

Other than fans whose identity is so fervently wrapped up in BYU's successes and failures that they cannot extricate themselves from that association, and maybe those who like watching a little football, no matter how meaningless it is, what's the motivation for fans to come to LaVell Edwards Stadium the rest of the way?

The 4-2 Cougars will get that bowl invite by beating enough lousy teams at home, and perhaps one or two on the road, come what may. What exactly is a fan's reasonable reason to show up? Nevada? UNLV? Savannah State?

Oh, my.

Already, BYU is discounting tickets like mad, essentially chucking them in the Bass-O-Matic, slicing and dicing them, in order to lure folks in, to avoid playing in front of an embarrassing number of empty seats.

But fans aren't dumb.

They know the drill. They know what's happening.

They know there's very little heft to what's left. Even before BYU's first loss, there were plenty of empty seats at LES. Some will show up, anyway, and that's good for BYU football. It's a proud tradition.

What isn't good is that the players, being human and all, are asking themselves the same questions.

What's my motivation? What difference will my best effort make? How can I dig deep to make any kind of impact? Who am I trying to beat out in the larger competitive sense?

Coaches will say — as Mendenhall essentially did — that each game the rest of the season is about character building. There's nothing wrong with that. The Cougars have faced a lot of adversity, absorbed a bunch of kicks to the tenders over the past couple of weeks in consecutive defeats, particularly the devastating loss of Taysom Hill. But building character, while admirable, typically doesn't move the needle much. If it did, self-help group sessions would be sold out.

So, purgatory it is for BYU football, again.

Heaven's too high and hell's too low. Stuck in the middle of not great, not bad, just something less than satisfying in-between. Same as it ever was in independence. Same as it ever will be until … well, you know.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM/1280 and 960 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.