The two teams played each other, USU, WSU, OregSt and went 2-2 in those games, 1-1 in close games.

Both defeated a d1aa opponent, neither was close.

In the remaining 7 games, Utah was 2-5:

L: @ASU (8-5), USC (7-6), @UCLA(9-5), @Wash (7-6), Ariz (8-5). Only the UCLA loss was by one score.
W: Cal (3-9), Colorado(1-11). The Colorado win was by one score.

In BYU's remaining 8 games, BYU was 5-3:

L: @BSU (11-2), @ND (12-1), @SJSU (11-2). All three losses were by one score
W: Hawaii (3-9), @GaTech (7-7), Idaho (1-11), @NMSU (1-11), @SDSU (9-4). None were close

BYU lost to higher ranked teams and lost to them by less. BYU's wins include two bowl teams, neither game was close.

There were some games between our opponents and their opponents:
BSU beat Washington by 2 points in their bowl game.
Hawaii lost at USC 10-49, we beat them 47-0.
Notre Dame won at USC 22-13.
Georgia Tech beat USC 21-7 in their bowl game.
SDSU lost at Washington 12-21, we beat them at home 23-6.

Which was a tougher schedule between their 7 and our 8? Really depends on your team quality. If you're an excellent team, playing five 5+ loss Pac-12 teams, two at home, may be less of a risk than facing a top ten team and two top-25 teams on the road. But If you're a bad enough team that 5-6 loss Pac-12 teams are likely to beat you, then BYU's schedule gives you three weak opponents instead of two. It's plausible that *both* BYU and Utah would have picked up wins by swapping schedules. It's extremely clear that after adjusting for schedule, BYU's performance is superior to the Utah's, and that's why BYU comes out ahead in the models for 2012.