Both 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.