The Brigham Young Cougars are officially independent in football. As of midnight last Friday, July 1, 2011, they were no longer members of the Mountain West Conference. Ever since this move was announced August 31, 2010, many perceived that BYU was making this move as a statement that it was comparable to Notre Dame. While BYU has made it clear that this was not the motive, we can still ask the question: Is the BYU football program an elite program?