Great. More conference realignment talk...

Silly us. We thought the conference realignment talk was over for the summer. The rumor that made its way through our twitter RSS feeds last night involved BYU and their potential exit from the MWC.

The Cougars wouldn't be joining a BCS conference, mind you. Their football team would go independent while the rest of their sports teams would join the MWC's little brother, the WAC.

The reasons for wanting to move are fairly clear. Like Texas in the Big XII, BYU is the class of the MWC conference. They have the powerful football program, they have the coveted TV market, and they have the infrastructure (which is comparatively better than what Texas can offer) to develop their own television network. Combine that with the measly $1.5 million they get in TV revenue every year from the MWC, and it starts to become clear.

That's not the only similarity to the Texas/Big XII situation. Should BYU decide to leave the league -- and even if they are convinced to stay -- it could be the downfall of the MWC. Without BYU or Utah, there simply aren't enough eyeballs and TV sets with the other eight teams in the conference, even with the addition of Boise State. But if the league caters to BYU to keep them involved, what kind of sign is that to the rest of the teams?

The issue at play here isn't whether or not BYU is considering leaving. Its painfully obvious that they are. The question is whether or not this makes sense.

The goal for the BYU athletics department is to get into a BCS league, and let's face it -- that isn't happening anytime soon. They aren't going to the Pac-10. Many of the schools already in the conference don't like the religious aspect of BYU, the league already has the Utah and Salt Lake City markets with the addition of Utah, and if they are going to expand again, the goal will be to get the Texas and Oklahoma schools, not BYU. And, let's face it -- they aren't joining the SEC or the Big East anytime soon.

The Big XII seems content as well, opting to stay, for the time being, at ten teams. Now, its feasible that if the Cougars go independent in football, they can put together the kind of schedule that would earn them BCS consideration -- their rivalry with Utah should continue, they could probably convince programs like Boise State and TCU to play them, and it seems likely that even Notre Dame would play them.

But with the MWC on the verge of getting an automatic BCS bid, is it worth the risk?

I'm not expert in college football or the BCS, but it seems to me that the best option for BYU right now would be to remain in the MWC, at the very least until they get word whether or not the league will be getting into the BCS.