...but the timing on when to make the move presented itself when Utah made the jump to the Pac 12. Of that there's no doubt.

But if BYU hadn't already had planning going into this potential option with the planning of the HD Broadcast Facility (starting in 2006-07 after BYU and Utah got hosed by the MWC in talks over the Mtn) and groundbreaking for the HDBF in 2009, BYU wouldn't have had the infrastructure in place to even pull it off.

Ironically, BYU and Utah have a long history of working together for the mutual benefit of both institutions kind of like forming their own player union. When it became clear that the MWC and Craig Thompson had an anti-BYU/Utah lean I think both institutions came to the conclusion that they wouldn't be able to stay in the MWC under it's TV deal any more.

The rest is history. Utah, being a public institution had options that BYU, being a private conservative religious institution, didn't have. Looking back, if BYU had gone independent solely as a knee jerk, tantrum, spur of the moment reaction to Utah's move to the Pac 12 then based on the level to which BYU's administration was able to pull it off (in an off-the-cuff manner) this speaks VOLUMES about BYU's cache and clout in being able to get the World Wide Leader in Sports to come running when they were called and pony up such a deal as the one they have now.

Not only is BYU getting a fat payday from ESPN, they're getting 10-11 games televised nationally plus (based on the results from highlights on ESPN Sportscenter and ESPN Radio shows during NCAA basketball season last year) and possibly more national exposure and media coverage than any other college in America (Dave Brown, VP Programming at ESPN's words not mine).

That is some power to be able to pull something like that off in knee jerk fashion, don't you think?