Sources: Utah to Join "Pac 12" Conference
by sroufe on Jun 16, 2010 1:56 AM PDT
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PrintBoth Comcast SportsNet and the Las Vegas Review Journal have reported that the University of Utah will officially accept an invitation to join the current Pac 11 Conference on Wednesday. Such a report is not surprising following the decision made by Texas (and other schools) to keep what was left of the Big 12 intact. Utah had long been rumored as a candidate for a potential Pac 10 expansion, and Colorado's "secession" last week made Utah an obvious choice after the Pac 10's other invitations fell through. BYU was almost certainly never a viable option for the Pac 10.
You can obtain more information about Utah and the Pac 10's expansion at SB Nation sites MWC Connection and Block U.
Undoubtedly, this is the end of an era and the beginning of a strange new chapter in the BYU-Utah rivalry. Personally, I am not sure how I feel about this yet. I don't think I will fully recognize the consequences of this event until the Cougars and Utes eventually meet on the field in a non-conference game. I don't necessarily grieve over the MWC's loss because the addition of Boise State will soften the blow. But I will lament that nothing will ever come close to the epic nature of this intra-conference rivalry again - especially over the past several years while both football programs have excelled. Then again, I think there are some who view this as a good thing, that the rivalry had exceeded its bounds and had become not only too far-reaching, but downright preposterous overall.
Therefore, assuming the aforementioned reports are true and that this all goes down, let me just say this for now:
Dear Utes,
Please represent our traditions with your school well and absolutely demolish Cal and USC every chance you get.
We'll see you when we see you...and we look forward to it.
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at least now
i never have to root for Utah for the good of the conference
the problem may have been that there was a stonehenge monument on stage that was in serious danger of being crushed-by a dwarf
"For the good of the conference"
I never bought that reasoning. Look at the conference now. Utah gets out. We would rather be in the Pac-12 as well. Boise State gets out of their conference. That whole argument, that you root for your enemy because it makes your conference look good is a fallacy. I always hated it. It never really does anything. Conferences get disbanded, or teams leave. Boise State was interested in making themselves look good so they could get out. And they got it. We would rather move on to a better conference as well. This is another example of how “the good of the conference” is a fallacy.
My swag was phenomenal.
Basically, I looked at it within a given season, not as much for the conference longterm.
Within a season, every conference wants its teams to win all their nonconference games, etc. I think that’s mostly what wyoback is talking about.
That's only partly true
We’re in the middle of a 4 year evaluation process that will determine if the MWC will get an auto bid to the BCS or not. If Utah had stayed it would have helped, but they didn’t, so you’re right that what they did didn’t help at all. However, I don’t see anyone else leaving in the next two years so everything being done by BYU, TCU and the rest will in fact help the conference. Plus, although everything Utah has accomplished won’t count towards the MWC, everything Boise St has done will. And they’ve actually been better than Utah over the last 2 years so it’s a small increase for the MWC.
Personally I’m glad Utah’s gone. They’re going to be better off in the short run but if the MWC keeps improving and ends up becoming a BCS conference, Utah might regret leaving in the long run since they’ll have a harder schedule year in and year out. They’ll make more money but fans don’t care about money. They care about wins and losses.
Don't trust this guy. He lies.
Utah Tickets just got a lot better
I think Utah may struggle in some seasons down the road, especially being in the same division as someone like USC, but Utah fans will surely not regret home-season schedules like last year where the best home games were Air Force and Louisville.
Worst case scenario for Utah is that either UCLA or USC will be their big home game of the year. Not bad. Add the possibility of having a home schedule with multiple teams like USC, Oregon, Cal, and Arizona St, with a possible final game against BYU, and you have a hot season ticket, even if they lose 2-3 of those game.
That said, as a Utah fan, I hope they don’t lose their competetive edge when they lose the “chip off their shoulder”.
Clearly Definable Different Direction for Utah & BYU
While I don’t wish to be a pessimist, I think this is a college sports nightmare scenario for BYU, and I think their brand will decline and be potentially of less value in the future. This will again make the challenge to Bronco Mendenhall and the staff that much more difficult in the years ahead to convince even good LDS recruits that BYU is a program for them. The athletic department and administration will be even more challenged to secure a quality OOC schedule of which Utah may or may not be a part of given for a few years they will be less likely to agree to play BYU in Provo. While inroads were made to Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri by the administration in the threatened Big-XII implosion, at best that might be the direction for Tom Holmoe to go in such ventures. Perhaps in a couple of years the Big-XII-2 will decide they need a couple of more schools, and BYU won’t have the problems relating to these schools the way they have with 2-3 current or future PAC-10 administrators. If another coaching change comes to BYU however and they go through what they did from 2002-2004 and have similar or worse scandals, and the monetary losses mount, there will be pressure to do as was done in Rexburg a decade ago and drastically curtail or completely terminate the athletic program. While the overwhelming majority of the current make-up of the BYU Board of Trustees are strong supporters of the athletic program, I’m told by several sources that there are those who feel otherwise.
agree 100%
i am completely bummed out today. this can only been sen as a net loss for the MWC and BYU. sad to see Utah go and know they will get real big heads over it. its impossible to know whats in store for BYU now. its could be fantastic, but it could also be mediocre or awful. the only bright side i guess would be that the pac ten didnt get to super conference status
Not much of an upside
There isn’t much of an upside, and IMO BYU should set up their own network and just go independent. Then they get to set their own terms, rely on their national fan base, and if the time comes, they are as eligible as can be for an invitation to the Big 12 or Big 10, and possibly PAC 10 if they ever decide to work with BYU’s quirks.
I just hope the MWC doesnt sit back and do nothing. Add Houston or even Fresno St. It will at least get us to 10 teams. I even think we should maybe add both and get Tulsa as well. Then we can have a conference championship game. That seems to be the new hype.
In any case, I think BYU loses big time on the deal. Boise isn’t going to bring as much to the table as Utah did.
this is actually really good w great upside
now byu will have a pac 10 opponent to beat every year (assuming they keep the fball rivalry going). if they do well in the pac 10 then w byu beating them it will make the mwc look strong also, utah won’t be good for that much longer. only fear is that players choosing byu or utah are more likely to go utah for pac 10. bsu will provide lots of stength in fball and utah will get crushed in all basketball years so pac 10 will regret utes for that
by larry_funderburke on Jun 18, 2010 2:34 PM PDT reply actions
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