The big boys would have excluded the little boys in the Bowl Coalition/Bowl Alliance/BCS/Nat'l Championship forever, if it wasn't for some people forcing the issue. The issue got forced by BYU's exclusion from the Bowl Alliance in 1996, which led to congressional hearings, which led to a bone being thrown to the little guys. If you can't see that relationship, then I don't know how else to explain it.
If that bone wouldn't have been thrown out there, Utah in 2004 would have been just like BYU in 1996----on the outside looking in. They did their part in winning when they had the chance, but the chance came because of the actions of others that went before. It's pretty simple.