BYU goes independent in football

Still reeling from two defections last month, the Western Athletic Conference and University of Hawaii suffered an additional setback yesterday with an announcement that Brigham Young University will move most of its teams to the West Coast Conference instead of the WAC.

What remains to be seen is if WAC member Utah State will be invited to take BYU's place in the Mountain West Conference.

BYU, which two weeks earlier was prepared to move to the WAC in all sports except football, replacing Boise State, will instead join the WCC, a nonfootball conference, in 12 sports. The Cougars' football team will become an independent in the same time frame.

The fear for UH and the WAC now is that the MWC might attempt to fill the hole left by BYU's departure with an invitation to Utah State. Indications are the Aggies, who said they turned the MWC down last month, would likely accept a second offer if one comes.

That could leave the WAC with five members -- one below the minimum for automatic-qualifier status for most NCAA championships, UH said.

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The University of Hawaii and the Western Athletic Conference are expected to announce a scheduling alliance with Brigham Young University in football today.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson has a media conference call scheduled for today from Honolulu to make the announcement.

BYU announced yesterday it will leave the Mountain West Conference to go independent in football and put 12 of its other teams in the West Coast Conference in 2011-12 instead of joining the WAC.

But to fill out its football schedule BYU is expected announce an alliance with the WAC that will provide it with four to six opponents each season.

UH is expected to become an almost annual opponent through 2020 on a home-and-home basis. Before the departure of Fresno State and Nevada to the MWC on Aug. 18, plans were in the works for UH to play BYU in 2011, replacing Boise State, as well as additional games through 2016.

UH athletic director Jim Donovan and BYU's Tom Holmoe had previously scheduled games for 2012 (in Provo) and '13 (Aloha Stadium).

BYU, once viewed in the islands as UH's fiercest rival in several sports, has not played the Warriors since 2002. They have met 27 times since 1930.