For the longest time, I’ve had a question that I never expected to see answered: What if BYU got out of its own way in regards to its major athletic programs? It’s essentially the same thing Ben Criddle refers to when he exhorts BYU to “align the silos,” although we probably differ on some specifics.

The complaints are well documented: (Over)zealous enforcement of an honor code with draconian punishments no one but our own selves says we have to administer. Paying on the (sometimes ultra) cheap for coaches, operating with skeleton staffs, and thus getting exactly what we were paying for. Saddling willing donors with restrictions on how their money could be utilized that either turned said donors off or drove them away entirely. Blowing it in myriad ways when there were likely good opportunities to join the big boy club….

Nowadays? Some of those complaints don’t appear to be real issues anymore. Some have been blown to smithereens.

I’m certainly no better at predicting our place in a very different and ever changing college sports landscape. In terms of the basketball program, self imposed limitations appears to have moved from being a tremendous factor in our success or lack of it to…a non-factor?

Could we, in the not-too-distant future, see an unfettered answer to the question, “How good can BYU be?“