This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
From the moment that Texas A&M officially informed the Big 12 it was leaving that conference, rumors and speculation regarding BYU and a possible invitation to the Big 12 have swirled continuously. It has been going on for a month now. But yesterday was downright crazy, with several blogs and websites throwing rumors around right and left and quoting anonymous sources that this was going to happen, or that was going to happen, etc. Made my head spin. I checked in with a BYU athletic department official, Duff Tittle, associate athletic director for communications, and he said what BYU has officially been saying since Aug. 30. "Nothing has changed in our response to all the questions of speculation and rumor," Tittle said. "I would have to refer again to our statement from a few weeks ago." By way of reminder, that statement said: "There is much speculation right now regarding conference affiliation that seems to change by the hour. Commenting on such conjecture is not productive and creates a distraction for our program. As we enter the 2011-12 athletic season, BYU is focused on the opportunities ahead. We are excited about our relationship with ESPN as a football independent and our affiliation with the West Coast Conference. The university will have no further comment."———————- John Henderson of the Denver Post, on the eve of Colorado's first Pac-12 game, weighs in on what the Buffaloes' old conference, the Big 12, should do next in this piece. The column includes the assertion that the Big 12 should take BYU for football only and "Let BYU keep its Olympic sports in the West Coast Conference. The football program is going to be as good as you're going to get at this point, and BYU is never down for long." Jimmy Burch of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says the Big 12 expansion plans could possibly include TCU, slated to go to the Big East next year. Because TCU could end its commitment to the Big East with no legal ramifications, Burch writes, "that makes TCU and Brigham Young, an independent in football, attractive potential plug-in candidates for a 2012 Big 12 football schedule that will be without A&M and also could be minus Missouri." A Big 12 source told Burch that the BYU-Boise State football series expansion to 12 games on Wednesday "has nothing to do with league expansion plans." ————————— Yes, the Cougars have a big football game tonight. BYU meets Utah State at 6 p..m. at LaVell Edwards Stadium hoping to get a measure of revenge for last year's 31-16 loss to the Aggies in Logan. Here's my advance of the 81st meeting between the instate rivals.