Washington and BYU may play on a week's notice, but it's complicated
College Football Twitter was in a tizzy on Sunday night over a Bruce Feldman tweet that, if not explicitly designed to get everyone mad at BYU, certainly had that effect:
"BYU turned down the opportunity to play Washington this coming weekend," he tweeted. "UDub had reached out yesterday but was told BYU wanted to wait until after the CFP rankings Tuesday to gauge their place. 'It's off the table.'"
Look, if BYU did or does indeed turn down an opportunity to play Washington, it's a terrible look. The 8-0 Cougars are off these next two weeks and in the running for a New Year's Six bid, if not a Cinderella ticket to the Playoff itself. Kalani Sitake's team has been absolutely dominant, ranking second in the country (minimum seven games) with 47.6 points per game scored and second with 13.9 points per game allowed -- albeit against a schedule that's included the likes of 4-6 Western Kentucky, 2-9 Texas State and FCS North Alabama. Strong as their performance on the field has been, BYU is not in a position to be turning down Pac-12 suitors.
Especially considering they tweeted this out Saturday, during the Cougars' 66-14 blowout of North Alabama.
But it's not quite as simple as keeping 100-plus players and coaches plugged into a charger, ready to be put to use at a moment's notice.
Non-conference games are typically negotiated five years in advance for a reason.
And scheduling Washington falls into the simple arithmetic problem the Pac-12 invited into the discussion when it approved non-conference games a week ago.
If BYU signs a contract with Washington on Sunday night and Arizona State cancels with Utah on Monday morning, what then? Does the Pac-12 force Washington to cancel, or does it leave Utah sitting at home all week while Washington plays a non-conference opponent?
Yes, BYU stands to benefit from playing and beating Washington, and turning down a good-faith opportunity to play the Huskies would be a tough look. But it's not a blank check that their opponents get to cash however they want. It's complicated.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.
