BYU's "national presence"

[Fishy]

The pull toward BYU by Mormons all over the country is pretty strong. My cousins, originally from Bristol, went to BYU-Idaho and now both live out there with their mother. They cheer for UConn, too, but are primarily BYU fans.

Other east coast Mormons who went to BYU: Jimmer Fredette and Steve Young.

The pull is real.

Meh. It's a numbers game and they don't have the numbers in this half of the country.

PS - Fredette would have gone to Syracuse if they'd offered...

 

[Dooley]

Perhaps it's overstated a touch but I'll give them a benefit of the doubt simply from the strong fan showing they had at the Rent a few years back. I was quite surprised actually to see a few sections packed with BYU fans. Michigan aside, we haven't had that seen that level of visitor team support since Rutgers, WVU or the last Syracuse game.

 

[MattMang23]

Meh. It's a numbers game and they don't have the numbers in this half of the country.

PS - Fredette would have gone to Syracuse if they'd offered...

Well the volume of Mormons in this part of the country isn't great, but the ones who are here that I know of are drawn to BYU. But then again, many of them leave and go west to be closer to the Mormon population center.

 

[Matrim55]

For lack of a better word/phrase, let's just say "Cultural Fit". Please bear with me. I grew up in San Jose, CA. and I can guarantee you that Stanford, UC Berkley, UCLA, USC, University of Washington and Oregon would have all said "No."

The California institutions would all have said no then, and still now. There is a lot of bad blood toward LDS church still over Prop 8:

Mormongate -- The Church's Cover-up of its Prop 8 Funding

And, well, lo-and-behold, but karma's a b!tch:

Mormon Church Bleeding Members Over Gay Marriage

EDIT: Which is to say this -- BYU will never get into the Pac 12. You'd see Yeshiva University in the B1G first.

 

[kibblesnbits]

I've worked with a number of Mormons and we've gotten along very well. However, I had to make sure to avoid politics and social issues, particularly LGBT equality issues, otherwise the conversation could get a bit testy. The visitors when they were at the Rent a few years ago were also very polite and respectful.

 

[UConnNick]

At some point in the past few years, somebody put together a survey of CFB fanbases, and the demographics regarding how many people in major metro areas identified themselves as CFB fans. IIRC, at that time, BYU and UCONN were in the same range, with about 700k who were identified as fairly involved Cougar or Husky fans. Given their numbers shown by the info in this thread, which eclipse the total population of Conn. by a wide margin, I can't say I am all that impressed with their numbers. At that time we were only a several years old full fledged IA program, and they'd been at it for many decades.

The other thing I remember about that poll, which is a salient point, was when you compare metro Atlanta to metro NYC, there are far more fans per capita that identify themselves as CFB fans in Atlanta vs NYC. Even though metro NYC dwarfs metro Atlanta in population, the total number of people that identify themselves as CFB fans in each metro area was about the same.

There was a time when the Ivy League schools, along with Army and Navy, were all nationally relevant powers. Unfortunately that is ancient history, and the interest level in major NE metro markets dropped precipitously since the Ivies de-emphasized CFB and banned bowl games in the 1950's. The ACC is finding that out the hard way right now in Boston.

Since then, the handful of NE schools still playing major CFB were never smart enough to form a league for football. If Syracuse, Penn State, Pitt, WVU, BS College, Rutgers, Temple, Army and Navy could have put together a football conference many years ago, perhaps the NE wouldn't have become the dormant CFB market it has become. Whatever became of the Lambert Trophy? That could have become a decent and nationally competitive conference, at least among the top teams.

I still think the NE can become a great CFB market again, but now it can only happen through non-conference matchups like us playing Syracuse, Rutgers, WVU, Pitt, Penn State and BS College, and all of those teams playing each other. Only the three ACC teams play each other now regularly. Apparently nobody on Tobacco Road has yet figured this out. Put us in the ACC and you at least re-introduce three more of those rivalries automatically, meaning you could almost completely own the NE market, and all of New England. Rutgers will continue to wallow in the B10 cellar, so there will be little market competition generated by them.

 

[superjohn]

Well, they're all brainwashed so it makes sense.

This is like the third different thread I've seen you bash Mormons. I don't give a about your beliefs and neither does anyone else on this board, stick to conference realignment.

 

[CL82]

I think the OP and others are misunderstanding the phrase. It actually is "BYU has national presents".

And they do. You can find some of them here.

 

[Rappin'Rodney]

I think this is another asset that is being blown out of proportion.

(The other is the myth that UCF's 63,000 students scattered to the wind across 12 commuter campuses and one main campus will somehow coalesce into some fan horde.)

I don't think it is a stretch to say that if you are a BYU fan, you are a Mormon. There are six million Mormons in the country and, like the general population, most of them will not care about any particular college sports program - it'd be very generous to assume that one in five is actually a BYU football fan.

Here's how Mormon's are distributed throughout the country...

If you value the northern tip of Maine, I guess that is 'nationwide', but otherwise....really? If anything, it makes me wonder why the Pac12 took Utah instead.

I wonder what the nationwide distribution of Mormons would have been had Joseph Smith's disciples followed Joseph Smith's heir apparent, James Strang (the self-declared monarch of Beaver Island, Michigan), instead of Brigham Young. Here's an interesting tale nearly lost to the annals of history: King James I, of Michigan.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I had 3 live in nannies for my kids when they were toddlers, each stayed for a year. All were 18yo female LDS. 2 of the 3 were nice. One was a kook.

Go oooon...

 

[billybud]

When FSU had their side of the home and home with BYU (2010)...I was surprised by the number of fans in the visitor's section. They brought more than many ACC programs.

 

[mavblues]

You dirty dog you

Believe me, I heard all the jokes from my friends.

1st one was a super hot blonde, 2nd one (the wacko) was meh, 3rd one was a chubby (but VERY curvy) dirty blonde.

No shenanigans though.

We went through a nanny agency. They specialize in placing these young girls as live in nannies. Most of them are LDS.

 

[31GuardTrap]

I know many LDS people and everyone I've met is great.

True story....I recently went to my door in just my boxer briefs to greet 2 of them. Did not faze them one bit. I'd like to think it was my stunning beauty but...

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I prefer LSD people. But yeah there was a whole slew of them at the Rent 2 years ago. Not much fun during the tailgate.

 

[upstater]

I prefer LSD people. But yeah there was a whole slew of them at the Rent 2 years ago. Not much fun during the tailgate.

That's because you were offering beer instead of extra wives.

 

[Exit 4]

As Flug said (yes, I am quoting Flug), BYU wins on the ground. They sell out their stadium (60k) and they travel strong. Maybe LDS membership is falling off, no matter, I would not expect that to translate into reduced enthusiasm for BYU sports...at all. Catholicism is in a similar decline and ND is not suffering.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Believe me, I heard all the jokes from my friends.

1st one was a super hot blonde, 2nd one (the wacko) was meh, 3rd one was a chubby (but VERY curvy) dirty blonde.

No shenanigans though.

We went through a nanny agency. They specialize in placing these young girls as live in nannies. Most of them are LDS.

Did they all end up marrying the same guy?

 

[pepband99]

I prefer LSD people. But yeah there was a whole slew of them at the Rent 2 years ago. Not much fun during the tailgate.

the whole slew of LSD people came from the LSD, not the LDS.

(too easy)

 

[beerfan]

I don't know about the numbers for Mormons falling off, but they have been building a Temple in Farmington for the last year or so. This is a big deal since there are less than 100 Temples in the U.S.

Hartford Connecticut Temple

It is a major structure and changing the look of Farmington if you drive route 4. There must be a demand in the area.

This is another reason for the Big 12 to take us and BYU. We will have an instant fan base here.

 

[CL82]

I don't know about the numbers for Mormons falling off, but they have been building a Temple in Farmington for the last year or so. This is a big deal since there are less than 100 Temples in the U.S.

Hartford Connecticut Temple

It is a major structure and changing the look of Farmington if you drive route 4. There must be a demand in the area.

This is another reason for the Big 12 to take us and BYU. We will have an instant fan base here.

Not a bad looking building, imo.

 

[MattMang23]

Not a bad looking building, imo.

Looks like the White House with a steeple.

 

[RioDog]

If you value the northern tip of Maine, I guess that is 'nationwide', but otherwise....really? If anything, it makes me wonder why the Pac12 took Utah instead.[/QUOTE]


I've been up there in the northern reaches of Maine, where USGS survey maps that otherwise would be named based on local towns just have a grid number. They must be counting Mormon trees.

 

[billybud]

moose outnumber humans up there

 

[Adios]

I am amused BYU wants to join Gentiles. Their reference, not mine.

 

[Stinger92860]

I loved the play!