BYU received national exposure because of its potential to go far in the NCAA tournament. If BYU were some middling team with no access to the tournament, the Davies situation would never had made headlines.
In football, by contrast, the avenues to the BCS are blocked for BYU. No one is going to care if BYU has to suspend a player for a game against Idaho when the Arm Forces Bowl is at stake. That's just reality.