Utah is a state school. If they prevent another in state institution from getting the chance for a bunch of money, a lot of people in the state legislature would be very unhappy. That would be bad for an institution that relies on that legislature.

Imagine if you were a Utah legislator. You would be all over the prospect of Utah influencing BYU's fortunes. I certainly would be. And they would at a price if they voted against BYU and I had anything to say about it.