(09-10-2021 04:29 PM)SMUfan Wrote: Yes.
Those that say "no", probably said the Big 12 wouldn't take BYU.
I said the Big 12 wouldn't take BYU. I'm still surprised about that one.
But that's because most people are thinking the religious thing is about Sunday games and Honor Code and stuff like that. I thought they wouldn't come to terms on BYUtv.
The difference between Liberty and BYU is vast. BYU is the unofficial official school of the world-wide Mormon population. It's named after the founder of the state, the leader of modern LDS Church. If you're an LDS person, you have a reverence for Brigham Young, and therefore probably root for the only Division I LDS university, which bears his name.
The LDS faith is more niche and laser focused and distinct from other branches of Christianity than the Baptists, which are a sub-sect of mainstream Christianity that's really not that different from any other branch of Christianity. No offense to Baptists or any sect of Christianity...hold on to your hats, I'm about to actually USE my theology minor.
There are really six categories that distinguish one of the the eight sects of Christian from any other. The CORE TENETS of all eight sects are the same, it's really more organization (how churches are governed/formed, who can be ministers) and an occasional difference of "how we define _____" that's different. For example, Catholics believe in transformation, at the Eucharist, the bread/wine BECOME the Body/Blood of Jesus Christ; while other sects believe it is SYMBOLIC, we take the bread/wine in REMEMBRANCE of the body/blood of Jesus Christ. And back before TV and the internet, that stuff mattered to people enough to form their own churches, but in 2021 it probably doesn't matter THAT MUCH to anyone (Forgiveness please if you feel different).
Anyway, the point is, there are 71 private, Christian Division I schools and eight that play Division I football.... But BYU and Notre Dame are really the ONLY TWO SCHOOLS where your religion is going to influence your fandom. And quite honestly, there are plenty of Catholics who root for someone else. The Catholics are pre-disposed to root for Notre Dame, mainly because their fathers and grandfathers rooted for Notre Dame when they were on TV every week and winning championships, but now everyone is on TV every week.
To bring this way too long post to a close (maybe day drinking was a bad idea), Liberty does not have the worldwide fan base that BYU has.
The Big 12, desperate for TV viewers with their big draws in A&M, Texas and Oklahoma leaving, needed the 16 million world-wide Mormons to tune in to Big 12 football.
If EVERY BAPTIST IN THE COUNTRY loved Liberty Football, then yes, Liberty would be a shoe-in for the AAC. In fact, if that were true, they'd basically BE NOTRE DAME: 70 million Catholics, 50 million Baptists.
But that's just not true of the denomination and their fandom. Liberty is not BYU.
Throw in the fact (which I should have recognized earlier while saying BYU was short-sighted) that the current cultural trend in the US is a much lower birthrate than previous generations
except for the LDS community, and BYU is such a ridiculously more attractive school in realignment than Liberty.
I believe that Liberty wins enough to be in a better conference than they are, and SHOULD be a candidate. They've been really good in football and basketball, and a conference would be wise to take them on that alone. But the politics are a factor and BYU's viewership trumps that, while Liberty's doesn't.