BYU made some announcements yesterday, so I'll fill in the off-season with some stuff.
First, remember when BYU went independent and Nutopians said that the big-name teams they were playing on the road would end up cancelling the return games. Well, that hasn't happened. Michigan State plays in Provo this September. Missouri and Houston go to Provo in October. With Wisconsin and Mississippi State having traveled to Provo in recent years, it seems that the big boys are honoring their commitments and BYU's independent schedule has been pretty impressive recently.
Also, they have one Thursday night game against Utah to start the season and a Friday night game the weekend of General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They'll probably play some late games as they play weak opponents and aren't in the mix nationally during the season, but even PAC-12 teams are encountering that in the current TV landscape. I recall being told BYU would rarely play on weekends, but that hasn't proven to be the case.
BYU also extended their series with Stanford from 4 games (starting this year) to 8 games to be played by 2035.
BYU will also play in an ESPN-sponsored bowl game in 2020, 2022, and 2024. Their TV deal was extended another 7 years (no financial details provided). They will play in the Independence Bowl in 2021, 2023 and 2025. If the Big Ten or Big XII can't fill a spot in the Cheez-It Bowl, BYU can fill that spot twice during this period, once in a year they are in an ESPN bowl and once when they are in the Independence Bowl.
Independence and Utah performing well in the PAC 12 have really hurt BYU in recruiting. They don't play for any conference honors. But I've liked that they've played all over the place and played teams they normally wouldn't get to play. If they can put together a great season, it would be really helpful when the next round of TV negotiations come up and conferences possibly start realigning again. Independence isn't the greatest, but I personally think it's better than if they'd stayed in the MWC.