discussions:

Schools frequently subsidize their athletic departments. This doesn't happen at BYU. BYU does not transfer general university funds to the athletic department. Most other schools do. As a result, their athletic revenue numbers are often inflated by millions of dollars.  Here's what the numbers look like when you adjust for school/state subsidies:

I only included the schools that are roughly in the same peer group as BYU as far as money.  Schools like USC, Texas, and Oklahoma are in a different financial category. 

Most of the data is from https://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/

The rest comes from the US Department of Education Equity in Athletics project

A couple of things stand out:

1.  If BYU could get a P5 conference invitiation, adding $30 or $40 million to their revenue stream from conference funds would put them in the same category as Oregon, USC, and Oklahoma from a money standpoint. 

2.  The MWC and AAC schools are subsidizing their athletic departments at about a 50% rate.  It would be very hard to justify ever considering joining either of these conferences from a financial perspective.

3.  Most of the ACC schools are not significantly better off financially than BYU.

4.  Independence, from a financial perspective, is sustainable and better than any other option other than joining a P5 conference.