so I don't think this article sheds any new light on what happened there. But even at the time it really seemed like a long-shot proposition. As I read the article it sounds like that opportunity even kind of came together rather quickly and had to be explored before finalizing what they'd been working on with Utah for some time before that.
We have known in the past that when the PAC presidents voted for expansion approval with two scenarios approved. The first being the Texas plan and the second being the plan that included Utah. Colorado was in both plans so that one finalized while everything else was in the air. Utah had to wait out the discussions between the conference and the rest of the potential BIG 12 defectors.