At this time last week, the Longhorns, along with several other teams, were on the minds of every college football pundit, fan, and journalist in the nation as they were rumored to be leaving the Big 12 .
However, the dream of a Pac-16 was left flailing in the wind by a last-minute offer by Dan Beebe—saving the Big 12 (now the Big 10?) and leaving the Pac looking for a 12th man to fill the void.
Colorado was already on board, but the Pac-10 needed a team that would not only make sense from a location standpoint, but could possibly offer a natural rivalry for Colorado.
Enter the Utah Utes.
Utah has been on the football scene, nationally, since 2003 when Urban Meyer led them to a 10-3 record. Prior to that point, they were mostly known for their success in both basketball, under coach Rick Majerus, and gymnastics (they have won 10 national titles playing as an independent).
Now they will get the BCS respect they have been yearning for since finishing undefeated in 2004.
The move was a no-brainer for the Utes. The Pac-10 offers more exposure and a bigger paycheck than the non-BCS Mountain West (they stand to see a television revenue bump of about $7-8 million dollars per season). Even still, the question remains as to what will become of their rivalry with Brigham Young University (BYU)? The ‘Holy War’ between the two football teams has been played yearly since 1890 and has a ton of old tradition and passion behind it among both fanbases.
Will it continue or be scrapped or will the two programs continue to meet on the gridiron?
How will Utah fare in their new conference? Well, that’s anyone’s guess. The Utes have had success in the Pac-10 over the last five-years but they haven’t played the powers of the conference—most of their wins, since 2005, have come against the bottom-tiered teams in the conference (Arizona, UCLA, and Oregon State). They have not played Cal, USC, or Stanford under current coach, Kyle Whittingham.
Even still, it’s a step in the right direction for a program that hasn’t been given a shot to show and prove and all eyes will be on them to see just how real they truly are.
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