MAY actually want BYU football to eventually go away, essentially for it to ultimately to go the way of Ricks and BYU-H. It's just harder to navigate with BYU-P with all the tradition and fan support / buy-in. But, it's a classic corporate move - much easier logistically, financially, and politically to just let the program / entity wither by attrition, rather than to make an announcement that they plan on shutting it down eventually.

There are some on here that have already suggested things similar to this - that the BOT does not want to compete financially or devote the resources that are increasingly needed to compete with the big boys at the highest levels of NCAA football (not to mention the possibility that the TBI issue could eventually cause the ultimate downfall of American Football as we now know it).

And, the powers that be seem much more committed of late to directing dollars to things other than BYU sports, and into things such as real estate, malls, beautification projects, agriculture and ranching, telecommunications, and education / outreach. With all of the dollars that the Alabama's of the world are pouring in to NCAA athletics now in comparison to previous years (when BYU was more competitive), the BOT may simply see this as a poor investment going forward, or one doomed to eventual failure unless a ton of money is poured in to prevent that.