This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

There are good things about BYU being independent, at least compared to playing in the Mountain West, and there are bad things. One of the worst things is the month of November. If the Cougars never get themselves into a decent conference, that month will go - and probably stay - dark.

It already is the lost month.

The month of no return.

The month with no meaning.

The month of the turkey.

The mystery month.

The empty month.

The month of the automatic win.

The month of the open date.

The month of the shut door.

The Sominex month.

At 6-3, the Cougars have nothing left on their schedule to offer their fans, or, really, to offer themselves. Nobody has any proof that this BYU team is any good. It's beaten Ole Miss, Central Florida, Utah State, San Jose State, Oregon State, and Idaho State. It's lost to Texas, Utah and TCU.

That list of wins and losses leaves everything to be desired.

And a load of heavy lifting to do. But there is none.

Look at what's left: Nov. 5, bye. Nov. 12, Idaho, Nov.19, New Mexico State, Nov. 26, bye.

Nothing. Nada. Nichts.

Dec. 3 offers Hawaii.

The TCU game was the only test in the back half of the season, actually since the Utah game midway through September, and the Cougars stumbled and bumbled in the loss to the Frogs.

Now, there are dogs and chirping crickets and the Armed Forces Bowl at the end of December.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

It's all understandable, given that this is BYU's first year of independence, and the Cougars had to scramble to throw their schedule together. But looking at future schedules, the problem of filling November's dance card with undesirables doesn't go away. Some conferences either can't or don't want to have their teams interrupting the heart of the league schedule with interlopers.

Check out those future November slates and, with isolated exception, there's not much there, other than trash and TBA. Even when BYU plays admirably tough teams early, it finishes with duds and thuds.

November should be the stretch run of the season, the time when the biggest competitive payoffs come - for teams and their fans. Not at BYU. Not under this plan. The stretch run has been turned into a wasteland.

That's a pity for a proud program whose players and fans deserve a whole lot more.

—

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Gordon Monson Show" weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on 97.5 FM/1280 AM The Zone. He can be reached at gmonson@sltrib.com. Twitter: @GordonMonson.