Just to reiterate, BYU has not received an invitation to a P5 conference. They had a bad situation in the MWC. By going independent, they get MORE money and have more national exposure than ever before. Contrary to an earlier assertion of yours, BYU is obviously more relevant nationally, as we very clearly saw up until the Michigan loss.

Independence is not ideal, but it is better than the situation in the MWC. It was a good move for BYU.

You are correct that such a thing would have been foolish for Utah, but that's the point--Utah COULD NOT go independent. If they hadn't received an invitation to the PAC, they would still likely be in the MWC.