Despite what people want to believe, you don't "play your way in"... Winning makes you more of a draw, so it's an inderect benefit, but at the end of the day, all that matters is eye balls. How many people care about your team, and how many of them tune in to watch your games. Utah was the perfect storm. The PAC12 wanted to break into the Salt Lake, up and coming market, and they were never going to take BYU. They took Utah based on their potential, and look what they've become since joining? They've taken full advantage of P5 money and recruiting. Their fan base is bigger, their market share is bigger, and their depth is better since joining the PAC12...

If BYU wants to get into a P5 conference, they need to not be a political liability. They have a decent fan base, but we act like we're Texas, and we just aren't. Good brand, good fan base, but lots of baggage with the honor code and church affiliation... We're not big enough for these conferences to turn a blind eye to our quirks. Winning helps, but it's WAY more complicated than that.