BYU inks four-year deal with Pac 12 power Stanford

BYU also announced it will play a two-game series against Hawaii, at Hawaii in 2017 in November, and the return game in 2018 in Provo, also in November.

Savannah St. is also contracted to play the Cougars next season in Provo on November 22nd, 2014. BYU's 2014 schedule is now full and has 13 games. Rumors started as early as December 2012 state that the game against Southern Miss. might be cancelled, but nothing has been confirmed.

BYU has now scheduled 6 of the possible 12 teams in the Pac 12 as an independent. Stanford might be the most impressive of them all, going to 3 BCS games each of the past 3 seasons.

The ESPN deal and contracted games against nationally prominent opponents, even in November, signifies that independence isn't so bad after all. For some, it is even preferred over a Major conference, due to the freedom, flexibility, and opportunities to win more games, but we can all agree, independence is a step up from the MWC.

Games against quality opponents give BYU a platform to gain national respect, it's up to BYU on how they perform against these teams that will determine whether BYU gets that respect or not. Couldn't ask for better teams nor platform (ESPN) for BYU to strut their stuff.