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Agreement with Cal completes modest 2014 BYU football schedule

While the 2014 schedule is a bit modest, more November games with the Pac 12 are a good thing.

Monday’s announcement of a home-and-home series between BYU and California completed the 2014 slate, putting year four of independent scheduling in the books for Tom Holmoe (with a bowl agreement outstanding, that is).

Holmoe has finally connected with the school at which he once coached, where he endured a couple beatings at the hands of his alma mater in 1999 and 2001. The two schools have only met once more, a Cal win in the 2005 Las Vegas Bowl.

Perhaps because of the buildup toward 2013 and its unprecedented schedule, 2014 feels a touch anti-climatic.

In 2013, BYU will face six “Big 5” opponents (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12, SEC, Notre Dame), while the 2014 slate features only three. The absence of Utah becomes at least a little deflating in that regard. But playing at Cal in the last week of the season does help crescendo the season for both players and fans.

While the sheer magnitude of the 2013 slate — its opponents, roadtrips, and strength — is ever-present, the 2014 schedule is still modestly good as a whole. The road schedule will again take BYU all around the country with the Cougars visiting the states of Connecticut, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, California, and Idaho.

Fans will likely feel a drop-off in the home schedule, however. Virginia, Houston, Utah State, Nevada, Southern Miss, and UNLV make a home slate that is somewhat interesting to a college football junkie like myself, but I would understand a “meh” reaction from fellow Cougar fans.

The series does add another November game, marking more indication that the Pac 12 is willing to play nice and let BYU help their schedule imbalance brought about by keeping yearly Notre Dame games for Stanford and USC. November games with the Pac 12 in 2014 (Cal), 2018 (Utah), 2021 and 2023 (USC) are now on the books (well, Utah isn’t quite official), and Chris Hill’s comments about BYU playing Stanford in November could add one, possibly two more late games with the Pac 12 (probably in 2020 and 2022).

While the 2014 schedule may feel like a little bit of a letdown, more games in November with the Pac 12 is encouraging. I’m okay with a home-home with any Pac 12 school. I love regional games and would like to see BYU hit most of the schools in the West. Whether the continued November focus means BYU-Utah can return permanently to the final week or not, playing anyone from the Pac 12 late is a good thing.

Plus, the freedom of independence has shown us an ability to make changes late in the game. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some shuffling to accommodate a different opponent or two in 2014. Usually, the school says something to the effect of “the 2014 schedule is complete” in press releases, so it is curious that BYU said nothing of a complete schedule with the 12th game under contract.

Next up for Mr. Holmoe is the 2015 schedule, which currently has 10 of 12 slots filled.

5 Comments

  1. Chris Irish

    August 27, 2013 at 12:12 pm

    Brett, great points. I am still happy with Indy vs MWC. Don’t see of always getting 2013 but I see us moving in between 13 and 14.

    • Brett Hein

      August 27, 2013 at 1:04 pm

      Right. Not every year is going to be like 2013, but I’m okay with 2014 as long as future years are somewhere in between — or, if there are still some changes ahead for the 2014 schedule.

  2. Dr. Nick

    August 27, 2013 at 8:29 pm

    While the 2014 schedule lacks the star power of 2013, it’s still a clear upgrade over a MWC schedule, assuming Southern Miss returns to form and Cal returns to the 2nd-tier Pac-12 status it occupied for most of the last decade.

    • Brett Hein

      August 27, 2013 at 9:22 pm

      Yeah, Southern Miss was consistently good for the longest time, and then just fell off the cliff recently.

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