Pros and cons to Cougars signing deal with Miami Beach Bowl
By Dylan Cannon, KSL.com Contributor
April 30th, 2014 @ 11:56am
PROVO — In the words of Will Smith, 2014 Cougar players and coaches will likely hear "bienvenido a Miami" come bowl season.
Monday, it was announced that the BYU football team will play in the Miami Beach Bowl against a team from the American Athletic Conference if the Cougars are bowl eligible. Like BYU's bowl last year, the game will take place in a professional baseball stadium with the contest being held at Marlin Park.
The news ended uncertainty about the Y.'s 2014 postseason destination and ensures that the team will not be left out of the bowl season if it hits the six-win mark. Here are some potential pros and cons to the Cougars playing in South Beach.
Pros
BYU's opponent will be a team from the American Athletic Conference. With all of the conference realignment over the last few years, no conference has been hit harder than the AAC (formerly the Big East). Still, if 2013 was any indication, the top half of the conference still has some quality programs. UCF, Cincinnati, Houston and newcomer East Carolina (the purple Pirates) are all coming off of strong seasons, with UCF and ECU both winning at least 10 games in 2013. The AAC's bowl tie-ins are not based on standings, so if the Cougars have a solid campaign, it is likely they will face one of the best, if not the best, team from the conference.
Cons
In an odd scheduling quirk, the Cougars are already scheduled to play three teams from the AAC this year (Houston, UCF and UConn). While it is unlikely that UConn will have a big enough turnaround from its 3-9 record last year to be in contention for a bowl, both UCF and Houston should vie for the conference championship and be playing in the postseason. Unless the game in the regular season is terrific, bowl executives generally shy away from rematches. If this is the case, the Cougars' potential opponent field will be significantly narrowed and the remaining teams to choose from may be substantially worse.
Pros
The bowl provides another realistic opportunity for Cougar fans and alumnus in the South and East Coast to see their team play live. This is vitally important because, since becoming an independent in football, the BYU administration has exerted considerable effort into reaching out to its national fan base. Should the Cougars play in the Miami Beach Bowl, it will mark the fourth time BYU will play in the Eastern Time Zone in 2014.
This last fact should not be lost on readers. In the past, BYU has almost exclusively played in the Western region of the United States and rarely crossed the Mississippi River. As such, it is hardly surprising that prior rosters consisted of almost entirely players from a very limited geographical area; even LDS players from the South and East have rarely chosen to take their talents to Provo. Playing yet another game on the East Coast should attract more LDS athletes from those regions of the country as well as players from other faiths who were previously unaware of the university and the football program.
Cons
According to Google maps, it is 2,545 miles from LaVell Edwards Stadium to Marlins Park. For law-abiding citizens, that is a 36-hour drive. In other words, only a very small percentage (which does not include yours truly) of Cougar faithful in Utah Valley and the rest of the state will be able to see the game in person. This could make for a poor attendance showing for the team, which will hurt the program in numerous ways on top of the substantial hit to its bottom line. Still, for those lucky few, what could be better than exchanging a snow shovel for a sand shovel to make sandcastles in South Beach?
Pros
While the date of the game is yet to be determined, officials have said that it will take place sometime the week before Christmas. Playing early in the bowl season could prove beneficial to the Cougars as they will have few quality bowl games to compete against. If the Cougars can have a strong season and play a quality opponent, they will receive a good TV time slot and increase their viewership and thus their exposure.
Cons
The old saying "out of sight, out of mind" rings true in this circumstance. While the bowl may very well have a good TV time slot and even receive some airtime on SportsCenter, there will be a lot of bowls played afterwards. Being near the start of the bowl season, it's very possible the Cougars will be forgotten about by national pollsters and by the college football world in general.
After reaching bowl eligibility status after eight games in 2013, the Cougars accepted a pre-contracted bowl invite to appear in the Fight Hunger Bowl. At the time, BYU was rolling, winning five straight games with all five of those teams playing in the postseason. While there were other factors at play, as well, the Cougars seemed to become stagnant after accepting the invitation and went just 2-3 in their five remaining games. While it is comforting for players and coaches to know that they will not be left in the cold come bowl season, it will be interesting to see how much excitement they will be able to generate when their future is already planned.
Dylan Cannon is a regular KSL.com sports contributor and is currently accepting any donations you are willing to send him on his way to see the Cougars in Miami. He can be reached at DylanCannon86@gmail.com.
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