It wasn’t some anti-BYU agenda or anything like that, he just understood that their best chance of getting in was being Colorado’s partner and being super secretive. He wanted to avoid the Utah State Legislature from inserting additional factors into a super fragile situation and potentially mucking up the process.

We all saw how the Utah legislature reacted to Utah canceling the b-ball rivalry for 2 years. This was a way bigger deal, and you can bet there would have been some old-timey Utah congressmen who wanted to be a part of the discussion, negotiate terms of the buyout, or even have a spot at the table to negotiate admittance of BYU. Nevermind this “negotiation” between Utah and the Pac-12 had been going on for years and bargaining positions were changing on a near daily basis in 2010. You get the Utah legislature involved and it could have killed the whole deal really quickly.

It wasn’t about boxing BYU out. It was about getting Utah in.