So much for the bachelor existence of BYU football, which divorced itself from the Mountain West twelve years ago to embark upon a gridiron single life as an independent (the Cougars would align with the West Coast Conference in other sports, including basketball). There are always some different motivations in Provo, where it was thought, among other things, that the football team could also spread the LDS message further and wider if not encumbered by a regional league like the MWC, and also able to use its TV network to further prom ote the brand of the church and school. Yet football scheduling often proved a bit of a challenge in the past decade-plus, while BYU has always been a desired target for numerous leagues who also recognized the value of the Cougars' national support base.'
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