[SamuelMcF]

Are you sure that BYU is Power 5, Bob?

In 2019, BYU played Utah, Tennessee, USC, UW, Toledo, U South Flo, Boise State, Utah State, Liberty, Idaho State, UMass, SDSU. That's four Power 5 opponents followed by eight Group of 5/FCS opponents. That doesn't come close to the level of competition that a true Power 5 independent, i.e. Notre Dame, would play.

The Big 10 requires all members to play at least one P5 team in OOC play. They count BYU.

This year's BYU schedule:
@ Utah – Thursday, September 3
Michigan State – Saturday, September 12
@ Arizona State – Saturday, September 19
@ Minnesota – Saturday, September 26
Utah State – Friday, October 2
Missouri – Saturday, October 10
Houston – Saturday, October 17
@ Northern Illinois – Saturday, October 24
@ Boise State – Saturday, November 7
San Diego State – Saturday, November 14
North Alabama – Saturday, November 21
@ Stanford – Saturday, November 28

I count 6 P5 and 6 G5 schools (with Boise State and Houston notably strong G5s). Next year they play 7 P5 and 5 G5.

BYU is trying to schedule more P5 teams later in the season but is unable to do so generally due to conference play, hence their schedule is front-loaded with P5 matchups. In general they've played 3-4 Mountain West teams and 4 (front-loaded) P5 teams per season, and it looks like they're really trying to fill those open 4-5 slots with tougher competition when possible. I'm sure once the Pac-12 allowed late-season OOC games they jumped at the chance.

ND is locked in with the ACC to play 5 ACC teams per season...BYU obviously has no such tie-in. They will alternate between us and USC as their final game over the next 4 seasons, have ASU, Arizona, Oregon, and Wazzu on the schedule in the future, and of course Utah is a yearly rivalry game. So there's definitely a relationship forming with the Pac-12, which makes sense geographically and from a level-of-competition standpoint for both sides.

[SamuelMcF]

Are you sure that BYU is Power 5, Bob?

In 2019, BYU played Utah, Tennessee, USC, UW, Toledo, U South Flo, Boise State, Utah State, Liberty, Idaho State, UMass, SDSU. That's four Power 5 opponents followed by eight Group of 5/FCS opponents. That doesn't come close to the level of competition that a true Power 5 independent, i.e. Notre Dame, would play.

The Big 10 requires all members to play at least one P5 team in OOC play. They count BYU.

This year's BYU schedule:
@ Utah – Thursday, September 3
Michigan State – Saturday, September 12
@ Arizona State – Saturday, September 19
@ Minnesota – Saturday, September 26
Utah State – Friday, October 2
Missouri – Saturday, October 10
Houston – Saturday, October 17
@ Northern Illinois – Saturday, October 24
@ Boise State – Saturday, November 7
San Diego State – Saturday, November 14
North Alabama – Saturday, November 21
@ Stanford – Saturday, November 28

I count 6 P5 and 6 G5 schools (with Boise State and Houston notably strong G5s). Next year they play 7 P5 and 5 G5.

BYU is trying to schedule more P5 teams later in the season but is unable to do so generally due to conference play, hence their schedule is front-loaded with P5 matchups. In general they've played 3-4 Mountain West teams and 4 (front-loaded) P5 teams per season, and it looks like they're really trying to fill those open 4-5 slots with tougher competition when possible. I'm sure once the Pac-12 allowed late-season OOC games they jumped at the chance.

ND is locked in with the ACC to play 5 ACC teams per season...BYU obviously has no such tie-in. They will alternate between us and USC as their final game over the next 4 seasons, have ASU, Arizona, Oregon, and Wazzu on the schedule in the future, and of course Utah is a yearly rivalry game. So there's definitely a relationship forming with the Pac-12, which makes sense geographically and from a level-of-competition standpoint for both sides.