objective about your team.

Pointing the finger elsewhere just looks like a cop-out.

If BYU wanted to be in bad enough, I believe they'd be in.

The truth probably lies in both sides being a little stubborn and not wanting to budge on something (and I really don't think it has to do with Sunday play. That seems to be the most favorite excuse used.) In fact, it really may have come down to TV partners being the ones who wouldn't budge versus BYU who wouldn't budge either. The Big 12 may be the ones who got stuck in the middle and were on the short end of the stick, and that may have been the story with Louisville as well (hard to speculate on that, though. We have absolutely no idea what went on between Louisville and the Big 12).

The real problem with the Big 12 is also one of its greatest assets... Texas. All of the teams who left the Big 12 had Texas as one of their main reasons for leaving according to the rumblings I remember when that was all going down. Once those (significant) teams started jumping ship, what exactly was the Big 12 going to be able to offer at that point from a position of strength?

Still, that is the type of environment that was perfect for BYU to swoop in and take advantage of a losing situation for the Big 12, and yet, it may have been a TV partner who put up the roadblock.

It was a difficult situation, and too difficult for the Big 12 to bend over backwards to accomodate BYU. You could read "high maintenance" comments as maybe a way of saying that it would just be too much hassle to add a team like BYU. They needed teams NOW, and they had two who were ready with bags practically packed to come, so they invited them. Problem solved... at least for the present time.

One of those teams lies East, so now they look East. East is also better than West... so who can really blame them?

The reality that needs to sink in for BYU fans is that independence is perfect for BYU. It allows them to be who they want to be, and they don't have to be insecure about what to expect from someone else, or what someone else may expect from them. If they are so insecure about losing themselves in some way because of the others they associate with... they're a perfect example of someone who should be left alone, and actually wants to be alone, even if they don't realize it.

Win games, go to NY6 bowl games, and press for ND access to NY6 and playoff games, or something close to/similar to what ND's agreement is and call it good. P5 teams and the media alike are already starting to consider BYU among the P5s in their analysis... just roll with it.

Barring some major developments in the college football landscape and business culture, OR major changes in BYU's way of doing things, it's going to be independence for BYU for the foreseeable future.

Time to get behind them and just cheer them on as best you can to break into the P5 inner circle as an independent a la ND... or do what I did and realize that college football is now a stinking pile of you-know-what because of the bowl alliance/BCS/P5, and become an NFL fan. I now watch college football for BYU alone. Give me the NFL over college any day. It is FAR better than the college game that is now a shell of its former self.