This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

There are good reasons for Utah legislators to wonder how the state's flagship university is doing in managing the high-stakes world of college athletics.

It's important from a financial standpoint, where the University of Utah's elevation to the Pac-12 six years ago has come with hundreds of millions in revenues and costs.

It's important from a visibility standpoint. It's not just about recruiting wide receivers. It's also about recruiting top faculty and students who want to be in the same league as Stanford and Berkeley.

It's important from a priorities standpoint. Are major college programs in football and basketball — and all of the financial pressures to be successful — distorting the university's mission?

And, of course, there is one poor reason for Utah legislators to audit University of Utah athletics, and that's the one they chose, although they don't really want to admit it. The "efficiency and effectiveness" review comes after the University of Utah elected to cancel its men's basketball series with rival Brigham Young University, citing a "toxic" environment that included a BYU player intentionally hitting a Utah player in their last game.

Toxicity aside, the reality is that the University of Utah is widening the gap between the schools these days, and sports is just one aspect of that.

The separation has been apparent for years at the academic research end of the university spectrum. BYU has never been close to equal footing as both a generator of research grant money and a producer of quality research. The Academic Ranking of World Universities has listed the U. in its top 100 institutions worldwide for several years, ranking it at No. 93 in 2015. (BYU is listed in a broad range of schools ranked 301 to 400.) BYU has had its successes, notably its business and law schools, but even there they have formidable competitors at the U.

And then there is the perception that BYU won't go to the mat for the academic freedom of its faculty. Don't think that doesn't matter on the basketball court or football field. The money in athletics is what drives this, but decisions are still largely in the hands of university presidents, who are academics. That may be why the Pac 12 apparently never seriously considered adding BYU.

BYU is struggling with its peculiarity. Reluctant to give up their built-in national audience of Mormons on their own TV network, BYU officials make themselves less attractive to the major college conferences that build their revenue streams on league-wide television contracts. Add to that BYU's ban on Sunday play, and the Provo school doesn't rise to the top of the major athletic conferences' wish lists.

So, yes, let's take a close look at the U.'s big-money athletics programs, but let's not think it will lead to a more equal status with BYU. Legislators will be hurting the best university in the state if they try to force that.