Was BYU Ever Serious About Joining Big East?

ESPN has reported a person familiar with the negotiations has told the AP that the Big East's courtship of BYU has ended.

But was BYU ever serious about joining the Big East?  It's hard to tell.

In an effort to achieve a 12-team football conference, the Big East had offered BYU a membership as a football only member.

ESPN added that the deciding factor was television rights.  BYU wanted to retain the rights to its home games and the Big East wouldn't agree.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune BYU makes between $1 million and $2 million for every home game from its eight-year deal with ESPN.  BYU did not want to let go of that deal.

It appears they couldn't buy into the $1.5 billion that has been mentioned as what Big East can expect for a television package once they create a 12-team league.

The Salt Lake paper also made mention of the reports about the BCS eliminating automatic BCS conference bids after their current contract expires in 2013.

It suggested that without a guarantee of a chance to play in a BCS game, if they win the conference, the offer just doesn't look as desirable.

It appears the Big East's next target will be San Diego State in its effort to arrive at 12 teams.

But was the Provo, Utah school ever serious about making a commitment to the Big East?

Boise State, Houston, SMU, Air Force, UCF and Navy all seem ready to pull the trigger. Even with Boise State's reservation about wanting more Western teams, they still seem ready to join.

It's hard to believe that BYU's present television contract was really the difference maker.

Don't they understand that it has been revenue sharing that has made the NFL the greatest sports league in the world?

And in case BYU thinks they're Notre Dame, they are not!

Notre Dame has had a huge television deal for a long time, NBC started paying Notre Dame over $1 million per game in 1991. 

In 2010 Notre Dame sold out all their home games (80,795 per game).  BYU sold 95 percent of their seats (61,381 per game).