the resume.

I agree that BYU was the strongest candidate among the 11 teams fighting for Big 12 inclusion. But how many of us realize that since 2011 (the year UU went to the Pac 10) BYU was only #55 in the poll appearances (I believe UU is #31 as a point of comparison)? It's only one metric but to the extent that people care about these things it's worth noting. I'm not sure BYU's recent reputation is nearly as strong as we would like to think. Look at the other teams around #55:

http://collegepollarchive.com/football/ap/app_total.cfm?sort=totapp&from=2011&to=2016#.WBLXx4WcFPY

I don't believe winning is everything when it comes to the B12. But it can't hurt. It's not a coincidence that both TCU and UU got chosen after very successful BCS eras for each team.