We left a conference that was stronger than the AAC is now.
maybe it was THEN but the MWC has fallen a few notches since then. The AAC is a much more regarded conference now than the MWC is and many call it the 6th p5 conference. UCF finished a second-straight regular season unblemished, and topped a very good Memphis team for the second time this season in the conference title game but lost in the Fiesta Bowl to #11 LSU 40-32. It also produced an electric Houston squad that included Ed Oliver and D'Eriq King, a 10-win Cincinnati that finished No. 25 in the CBS Sports 129, and an 8-4 Temple that ranked No. 34. The AAC has had the sixth spot in conference power rankings locked down for two consecutive years. We have had some great games in the past with AAC teams like Cincinnati, Memphis and Houston.

We are more secure financially than we ever have been.
This is always subject to change for several reasons. We are at the mercy of ESPN and how they value (or not) us as a product and with viewers cutting their cable it has affected them in a big way. Plus our biggest single source of revenue isn't TV, ticket money, etc, it's donations and it makes up close to 25% of our revenues. We are at their mercy (donors) as well. TV revenue from ESPN is less than half of that. If ESPN decides to go in a different direction or to shift us over to ESPN+ or ESPN3 and donors aren't happy with not having anything to play for the last half of the season our fortunes could change dramatically.

Yet, some would trade having USC and Washington as home games for the likes of ... um... (Insert random AAC team name here, I can't currently think of any)
Why would that change? The Pac12 likes scheduling us and wouldn't stop just because we joined the AAC. They didn't have any issues scheduling us when we were in the MWC did they? (no). While being members of the MWC we had home games vs USC, Washington, UCLA, Arizona, Boston College, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Florida St, Stanford, Mississippi St, Virginia, Cal, etc. Sorry, no trading will be necessary.

The AAC is a conference of NO IMPORTANCE! joining them would be a financial disaster. It would cost us close to $10 million just to cancel game contracts that are already signed, not to mention the smaller revenue we'd receive. It'd tick off donors and essentially it would be is stating to the world, "We're not good enough!" When we've been saying, "We belong!" for the last 9 years.
as g5 conferences go they are important and since there are no p5 conferences lining up to invite us despite numerous opportunities to do so, I think that makes them a little bit important to us as well when you consider that there aren't any g5 conferences calling us either.
As for what it would cost us, I don't see how you arrive at the $10 million figure. Re-scheduling games aren't that big of a deal and they happen all the time without any cancellation fees being required. As for revenue from TV being different, it isn't that big of an amount now and sharing in conference winnings from NY6 bowl games, NCAA tourney success, etc would likely offset what ever paltry amount we lose on our TV deal.
On the subject of donors getting ticked off, lets look at that for a moment. They haven't gotten ticked off that we have lost 8 in a row to Utah. They haven't gotten ticked off that we haven't made an NCAA tourney in years. They haven't gotten ticked off with a lot of home games vs schools like UMass, Idaho St, NMSU, Idaho, etc. They also apparently continued to donate in a large way during and after the disastrous 2017 season. So, I find it REALLY hard to believe that moving to the premier g5 conference and improving our chances to get to a NY6 game considerably would tick them off.


Independence has been nice for fans who don't live close enough to Provo to attend games in person. I get to see way more games now than I ever did when we were in the MWC. I love the exposure we get now. I don't miss the MWC one bit and wouldn't want to return to that conference and the petty jealousies/BYU envy that schools like Wyoming, SDSU, etc had towards us. But I think a lot of fans aren't happy with our current situation in the WCC and feel that this situation has really hurt the basketball program significantly and that our imbalanced schedules continues to hurt our football program especially with game attendance due to all the meaningless games. I don't think that can even be argued. Attendance at both BBall and Football games have declined significantly. Moving to the AAC would breathe new life into both programs and significantly increase our chances of getting back to the NCAA tourney (they are regularly a 3-4 bid league) in basketball and would give us an opportunity at a NY6 bowl game that we wouldn't have as an independent. With football on the rebuild, a new QB and improved skill position players the next few years in football could see us with an opportunity to play for conference championships and possibly a NY6 bowl. That would elevate BYU in the eyes of any potential p5 conference the next time realignment talks begin more than being independent with a schedule full of schools like Idaho, Hawaii, NMSU, UMass, Liberty, etc would.