pursuit of national validation are important to BYU and especially to fans. I get that. It's a big piece of remaining Indy successfully and a key leverage point for entry in the next P5 sweepstakes. Also a part of the church mission.

But, BYU fans make a mistake when they assume the goal of Utah football is the same. Utah doesn't need the exposure of a marquee OOC game on ABC.

Utah already makes far more than it's worth in theory, given its fan size, historical value, etc.

So Utah doesn't need more money necessarily, doesn't need national validation. It already has all that.

If you look at the rankings, and look at the few teams that are ahead of Utah and the next few that are behind them, you'll learn very quickly, in terms of perception and national validity, Utah is doing things right.

Whether I'm the only one watching the WSU or whether 1M log in, it doesn't really matter. If Utah wins, everyone who follows CFB will be paying attention one way or another.