would have to provide a starkly superior benefit to a conference (like we do to the WCC) for it to bend over backwards to accommodate us.

Let me provide a somewhat related anecdote.

Several years ago a regional conference for the Albuquerque area of the Church was planned and scheduled to occur in the Pit, UNM's basketball arena, on a Sunday during basketball season. President Hinckley and Sister Hinckley were scheduled to be there, so this was a big deal for local Church members. We had the arena scheduled many months in advance. Less than 2 weeks before the conference, ESPN came to UNM's AD and offered to televise a WBB game originally scheduled for Saturday in the Pit, but only if they moved it to Sunday, which happened to be the Sunday of our conference. The television time slot would have made it impossible to both play the game and have our conference. So what did UNM do? They called us and said "sorry", and cancelled our reservation with no compensation of any sort. We ended up scrambling at the last minute and fortunately found another much less audience-friendly venue (Albuquerque Convention Center where all seating was at the same level).

My point is this: Nationally televised time slots are cherished by the lesser sports and they will not want to be in a position to turn down the exposure and revenue to accommodate BYU. I have spoken to coworkers who are very plugged in to U Texas booster organizations and, at least for them, they just do not want the hassle. Like I said, we'd have to offer something substantial as a conference partner for them to agree to the flexibility.