Outside of Salt Lake County...and the particular team Utah is playing, they really have no national gravitas. It doesn't make them irrelevant. They can always knock off a team that is relevant...which makes them relevant. (THEY DID IT!)

But they are relevant in the way that Indiana or Iowa State or Washington State or Virginia is relevant.

BYU...BYU's relevance comes from being BYU. It comes from BYU's identity. Even if BYU joined the Big 12 conference tomorrow, that would not be the hook that makes BYU relevant. It just makes particular games relevant in the conference picture.

BYU is relevant because it is one of a handful of schools that could do what it is doing...and because it swims against the tide of win at all costs and that athletics are first. People loath or love BYU because of it's peculiar stance in the world. Outside of Utah...the Utes aren't thought of enough to be loathed.

BYU gets booed by people across the country...but as Reggie Jackson said, "they don't boo nobodies." And...there are a lot of people who admire BYU for taking a stand...even if they don't personally agree with the position. BYU will only be irrelevant if it chooses to be by leaving the game. Until then, it's more relevant then all but the top 20 or so programs in the country.