When discussing BYU, many fans, and especially UTE fans and trolls pretending to be BYU fans, think BYU is NOT a research University. BYU Football has nothing to be ashamed of on the academic side. I did find it interesting that several fans have argued that TCU and Baylor University have "separated themselves" from their religious affiliations. Not true!

BAYLOR, a Nationally Ranked Christian University - THAT is how their Google TAG begins for their website.
TCU - Returns Texas Christian University and then TCU for Athletics.

It is true that SMU (Southern Methodist University) has essentially moved to a completely secular model for core curriculum. But SMU is not a serious candidate for anything. Like Rice University, it's too small and too private.

The Church's OFFICIAL description of Brigham Young University is as follows (direct Quote)...

Brigham Young University (BYU) is a private research university in Provo, Utah sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It is run under the auspices of the church's education organization, the Church Educational System (CES). BYU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities[9] and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High Research Activity" with "more selective, lower transfer-in" admissions.[10] The university's primary emphasis is on undergraduate education in 179 majors, but it also has 62 master's and 26 doctoral degree programs.[11] The university also administers two satellite campuses, one in Jerusalem and one in Salt Lake City.

The description only gets 8 words in when the word "RESEARCH" appears.