What if you could assure BYU of permanent P5 membership, but the tradeoff was that you'd have five years of cellar dwelling of the 1-11 and 3-9 variety in the new conference before the school began a climb back to respectability? The alternative was continued independence and a steady stream of 7-5 to 9-3 seasons for that same time period and beyond. Would that be a worthwhile trade?