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Big ideas, and big ideals, thrive on college campuses. They don't always succeed in the real world.

Over the past few months we've witnessed a remarkable overhaul of college sports. Millions of dollars were, and remain, at stake. NCAA institutions across the country have been maneuvering to put themselves in the best positions to benefit.

Utah has been right in the middle of the fight, creating the story of a decade for The Tribune's sports department.

Late last spring, as a result of events that played out mostly in the Midwest and South, the Pacific-10 Conference invited the University of Utah to become a member, and the U. of U. immediately accepted.

Leaving the Mountain West Conference, Utah suddenly became one of the "haves" in the college sports world.

The Pac-10 is one of the nation's elite athletic conferences, with television and other revenue amounting to many millions more than that of Mountain West schools. National exposure is routine.

The Pac-10 divides much of its money, so it doesn't matter whether you are winning, you're going to be bringing in money that translates into the best in facilities, in coaching and in athletes, typically translating to even more exposure, more revenue and a steady stream of top-notch talent that perpetuates the goodness all around.

Universities believe all this makes for a better academic environment. Big-time universities that have big-time sports also have big-time academics, big-time professors, big-time research and big-time students. That's just the way the game is played.

So when Utah ascended to this elite level, BYU suddenly found itself at a potentially crippling disadvantage. It had to react, and that's where Utah State University comes in. Led by President Stan Albrecht, USU and its affiliate, the Western Athletic Conference, helped concoct a plan that brought every BYU sports team into the WAC — vastly improving the fortunes of each of those schools — as the Cougars became independent in football.

The plan was a win-win all around — BYU was simultaneously negotiating with ESPN a deal that would bring it far more money and national exposure for its football program than it could ever dream of as a member of the Mountain West. A number of its football games would be played — all nationally televised — against WAC schools, which would benefit from the ancillary exposure. Meanwhile, the rest of BYU's teams would have a very respectable place to compete in the WAC, and everyone saw arenas full of BYU fans wherever the Cougars played.

Three weeks ago the plan imploded when the University of Nevada, Reno, and Fresno State University literally pulled out of the WAC overnight to accept invitations to join the Mountain West. Soon thereafter, BYU joined the West Coast Conference instead.

Illustrating the zany culture that can be college sports, administrators had begun referring to the plan by the code name, "The Project," in e-mail exchanges. They labeled documents "YOUR EYES ONLY" and "EXTREMELY CONFIDENTIAL," as though they contained plans for the invasion of Sicily.

Silly perhaps, but it does show how important administrators considered this. Depending on your point of view, Nevada and Fresno acted responsibly, making decisions that best benefited their respective constituencies. Or, they treacherously betrayed Albrecht and other WAC members, acting without integrity. Or they did both.

BYU, meanwhile, could be accused of having left USU at the altar in favor of a better deal with the WCC and ESPN.

Yet BYU's eight-year agreement with ESPN is virtually unprecedented. It arguably leveled the playing field with the rival Utes and certainly achieved a level of exposure that fits within the school's overall mission.

The story ruled sports headlines for weeks. Led by reporters Tony Jones and Jay Drew, The Tribune dominated the story. Using open-records laws, reporters obtained e-mails and other documents that provided a rare glimpse into high-level, back-room wheeling and dealing.

Some of the e-mails embarrassed USU officials including Albrecht, who clearly assumed his communications were private. Utah State athletic director Scott Barnes feels our coverage has missed one important component.

"[It's] the notion that the WAC wanted to get better," Barnes told me this week, noting that by virtue of Albrecht's position as chairman of the conference presidents' council, his job was to engineer the best deal he could for the WAC.

"We didn't want to sit idle," Barnes said. "We thought we had a very strong position in what we had [negotiated]. ... We know the reasons why that fell apart."

Clearly, this story isn't over, and The Tribune will continue to cover it aggressively. There is much still to be told.

Big ideas and big ideals alike.Michael A. Anastasi is The Tribune's managing editor for Sports, Photography, Features and Production. He can be reached at manastasi@sltrib.com or at 801-257-8905.