This is correct regarding BYU. The access bowl slot is truly irrelevant to them in the scheme of things, especially when the trade-off is guaranteed games against schools like Michigan State and UCLA in the regular season for more money. People advocating BYU to join the AAC or MWC are basically saying, "Give up your bigger TV contract and guaranteed regular season games against P5 games for a 1-in-60ish *chance* at an access bowl vs. a P5 team!" In reality, that's simply not a very good deal for BYU... especially where whaler11 has noted that the school has a broader purpose of spreading their religion. They'll take the guaranteed exposure of multiple nationally televised games in September and October against P5 schools than a non-guaranteed 1-in-60ish chance at an access bowl every single time. The access bowl is a red herring with respect to BYU (and it might be a red herring for UConn, too).
The other factor is that Utah is in the Pac-12. The fact that Utah is in a P5 conference means that BYU cannot, under any circumstances, be *structurally* in an inferior position. Being independent at least allows for BYU to argue that it's "special" compared to Utah (e.g. "We can pull off independence and an ESPN contract with our national fan base that Utah can't"), whereas BYU joining a G5 means 100% admitting that they are *structurally* inferior to Utah. BYU simply won't accept that type of status. It's a non-starter.
This would be similar to if Michigan State was in the Big Ten while Michigan was on the outside looking in. Michigan would rather die a fiery death as an independent than to ever join the MAC or any G5 league because Michigan believes that they are superior to MSU in every single way (academically, athletically, fan base size, etc.). BYU legitimately believes that they are the "Michigan" in this scenario while Utah is "Michigan State".
Frankly, the BYU situation is instructive for UConn. Up until now, I didn't think that UConn should ever consider independence for football. UConn had to do everything it could within the confines of a football conference in order to aim for a P5 spot. Now, though, I think P5 spots are going to be foreclosed for the next generation. The Big Ten and ACC are simply too fat and happy where it would take a Notre Dame/Texas-type addition (or at least an Oklahoma-sized addition) to generate any movement. What is the best option for UConn to maximize revenue in the face of this reality but still holding onto football at a high enough level to take advantage of conference realignment if things DO start moving again? Maybe it's football independence and putting basketball into the Big East.
Now, independence is certainly very risky. A BYU-type independence by choice is better than being in a G5 league, but a UMass-type independence that is not by choice is definitely NOT better than being in a G5 league. UMass would go for an AAC membership in a heartbeat, so UConn has to consider whether pastures are truly greener elsewhere. That's where UConn might be able to leverage its basketball programs (both men's and women's) in scheduling arrangements with P5 schools - this is an advantage that UMass doesn't have.
Anyway, that's just food for thought. I'm not quite sure that independence is really the right answer for UConn because of the risks mentioned before, but with the Big 12 passing up on expansion entirely and the rest of the P5 getting fat off of huge TV deals that last until well into the next decade, it's at least an option worth evaluating a bit more despite being a non-starter before yesterday.