a huge part of the 'politics' of it. Tier 2 research universities just don't get pulled into major conferences (especially the Pac12 and Big10 who put the most emphasis on academics) without some strong extenuating circumstance. Sure, other factors matter but BYU is starting at a disadvantage even before accounting for religion. The closest/best comparison for BYU is TCU - a Tier 2 school, not mandated as in by the state legislature (Baylor, OK State) or in the SEC (which cares less about academics).

But there's two major differences there. The one BYU fans jump to is religion and it probably does play some role, but the bigger one is about TV contracts. The way those work, it's about expanding the footprint. BYU has a lot of fans, but they're spread out around the country, not as useful for TV contracts. Adding BYU, you can get your network carried on sports packages in the Utah area - with a population of 3.2 million. Adding TCU, you can get your network carried on sports packages in the Dallas/Ft Worth area - with a population of 7.6 million. It doesn't even matter that most of those don't care about TCU (or that the state of Utah is obviously split primarily between BYU/Utah fans)