All three of BYU's games have been on ESPN's flagship channel; they've been late kicks in less-than-ideal time slots, but if anyone is going to watch sports during that time (and certainly if anyone is going to watch one of the ESPN channels during that period) BYU is the game they are likely to see. Intentionally damaging that product for three weeks in a row just to spite a team that is moving to a Fox conference doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Instead, it seems much more likely that the declining production quality (which is apparent in other areas of the broadcast, as well) is simply part of a network strategy that is shifting away from the cable-funded excesses of the early 2010s. If literally every game for every team is going to be broadcast somewhere every week, cutbacks were inevitable. Green-screen commentators, smaller camera and production crews, and cheaper equipment are just part of the network's strategy.