And I will go one step further. I dont think we get guys like Tyson and Esupka without Utah being good.
Here is my reasoning. The better Utah is, the more national recruits are attracted to the idea of coming to the state. Utah only has a certain number of slots. Some will filter over to BYU.
Obviously honor code academics all factor in but you want the publicity to attract recruits. They want exposure and a chance to play professionally.
So Utah being good and BYU beating a good Utah team is a great formula for that IMO.