(Copied from Utefans. Had to wash my eyes out immediately after)

“I’ll bite.

The PAC has had a serious academic side, one of the reasons Utah got invited in 2010. There’s certainly an anti-religion bias in some schools, primarily to do with really ugly recent-past religious issues, like when BYU had no black players & Wyoming’s 14 African Americans refused to play them based on the theological discrimination against blacks.

Utah fans are proud of the academic achievements of the school, the U’s President has challenged the research community to get to the $1 Billion a year level for research funding. We recently got our first Nobel laureate, would like to add to the list. Utah is in the AAU, which seems to be a requirement for B12 expansion.

To that extent, BYU may be a better cultural fit for the B12, unless religious sectarian squabbles break out, as they sometimes do.

But the case can also be made that athletics is much more than a marketing and alumni recruiting tool, and the money is an end in itself. Eg, the PAC has no problem scheduling BYU for non-conference games. At the end of the day you need to pay your bills and play good competition.

If the rush is on to two 32-team super-conferences, Utah would prefer the B1G with other PAC partners. If the PAC collapses with no invitation coming to the B1G, the B12 is the next best option.

Utah wouldn’t make waves or be a cancer in the B12, regardless if there was some grumbling about not getting our 1st choice and not being able to keep the rest of the PAC together. The U is a moderately liberal university in a red state, not unlike many of the B12 schools, so we know how to go along to get along.”