Obviously the BoT values exposure since the admin has talked about this countless times. I imagine they view exposure as a missionary tool. Independence allows BYU to play all across the country, which excites the church members in these areas and carries the BYU story far and wide.

They obviously want the program to be profitable enough to pay for itself and perhaps other sports so tithing money can be conserved. This can be seen in the way the program tends to rely on donations and the admin works very hard to stay in the black.

Likely a distant third priority is playoff access. Playoff access is great because it can increase exposure, donations, and is good for the players. But I very much doubt it drives the BoT’s thinking. But it’s a factor.

I suspect the BoTs also values stability. A wildly changing landscape is probably viewed as a negative relative the stability of charting your own course as an independent.

So in order to join a conference, my guess is that first and foremost the exposure would need to be the same or better than our current TV situation (BYUTV for some games and national broadcasts for nearly all of the others). Secondly, the financial package would have to be on par or better than our current payout from ESPN. And if it increases playoff access, that’s a bonus.

So, would the (assuming it survives) B12 conference tick all of those boxes?

Would the B12 allow us to keep games on BYUTV? I think that would be important. And how about regional games on FOX relative to national games on ESPN?

Without Texas and Oklahoma, the TV deal will take a big hit. Could the ongoing payout be better than our current deal? Maybe.

If the B12 can retain P5 status, then playoff access is good (as long as the situation remains stable).

I’m not so sure the BoT would jump on an offer to join the B12 without Texas and Oklahoma.