The quote was spoken on September 22, 2011. There was a dinner for the annual chapter conference of the BYU Alumni Association. My memory may be fading, but I believe roughly 100 people were present. It was the day of the Jimmer's All Star Game. The dinner was hastily moved up so that President Samuelson and any dinner attendees could go to the basketball game.

President Samuelson spoke to us and then opened things up for a Q&A. Most people there were excited about sports, given the swirling situation with conference expansion and the Jimmer's All Star Game. That said, President Samuelson did not address sports (other than a mention of the basketball game) in his prepared remarks and most of the Q&A centered on the spiritual and academic aspects of BYU. I went back to a post I made the day after the event and relied on it for most of the rest of what appears in this post:

President Samuelson was very candid and very blunt. He clearly stated BYU does not have an offer to join the Big XII yet. I don't understand how that has morphed into everyone thinking he said we'd turn one down.

Being on the side of hoping we join the Big XII, I was initially disappointed that he also said we may not accept one if offered. That said, the context of his remarks was very different than everyone on here seems to suppose. IMO, he clearly implied that BYU may not be ready to accept all the strings that come attached with the relationships and the money that might come along with a BCS invite. Right before the Big XII question, he was talking about how BYU won't get a medical school because of government requirements that would go against certain core values of the church. Whether it was strongly implied or directly stated, it was clear that training medical students on performing abortions is exactly the kind of issue the church wants to avoid. He quickly transitioned off the sports angle and back to BYU narrowly focusing on what BYU does in order to meet BYU's mission.

He also mentioned that he had been bombarded (my words, not his) with e-mails on this subject. Apparently, not all of the e-mails were polite. And, according to him, some of the more scathing e-mails were sent by people who didn't have the courtesy to sign their own name.

To me, it seemed clear that when President Samuelson said, "Don't hold your breath" he was saying we weren't close to reaching a deal with the Big XII at that time. He was not, in my opinion, saying he didn't want a deal with the Big XII or that he would do anything to get in the way of such a deal (unless it came with strings attached that the church can't live with).