the 80’s.
It was a fluke that got us in— the B12’s desperation to survive.
It might’ve still happened had we been hunting and pecking among the MWCers, but independence allowed BYU to clearly set itself apart as the only outsider able to stand (and thrive to some extent) on its own, including financially.
They picked the AAC schools because they were “good enough.”
They picked BYU because they had no choice. They needed to survive.