The world of academia doesn't consider it a waste. The PAC 12 presidents don't consider it a waste. The PAC 12 universities averaged almost $529 million dollars in federal research in 2009.

Those are real numbers, openly available on the internet. I am not making up stories about think tanks and irrelevant metrics. BYU's $25 million just doesn't fit in. I would bet that the PAC 12 presidents would take USU, with their $90 million in research before BYU.

The PAC 12 universities have a different goal than BYU. BYU's goal is to provide a quality undergraduate education. The research universities of the PAC 12's goal is to further the base of knowledge and understanding. BYU will never be part of the PAC or the B1G, no matter how large the stadium is. Presidents choose who is a member, not AD's, and it has nothing to do with religious bigotry.