Darkwing Duck
Well-Known Member
Utah has definitely become elitist. Refuses to go anywhere in basketball, either. I guess the 20 point drubbing at the DEC sealed that.
Sad. It's been a great rivalry.
One odd thing about this, though, is that many Utah fans are saying they don't need to play BYU because (in effect) Utah is now so much better than the Y. However, the reason Chris Hill gave for not playing BYU is because he didn't want to schedule too many "really, really difficult games" in one season.
BYU has only themselves to blame.They need to wake up and get into a bigtime conference. Teams are flooding the big conferences and locking up their entire schedules to big conference games. Had BYU joined the Big 12, the rivalry game would still be in place (and an extremely lucrative game because of the colliding Big 12 and Pac 12 Conferences). The attention, money, and intensity would be insane.
As it stands now, it's the Big Conference Utah Utes vs some Independent School that thinks it's Notre Dame or something.
I don't blame Chris Hill for looking out for his team. By missing out on BYU they can either plan a game with another big conference school (lke Michigan) and make a ton of money or play a cupcake to prepare them for conference play.
BYU needs to join a conference or basically concede that athletics aren't important anymore and begin the dismantling process of their football program. Turn it into BYU I with Intramurals. In a way, this has already started. BYU hasn't send anyone to the NFL in quite some time. They're only digging their grave deeper by preferring to stay Independent and playing no one after their 4th week and forcing their basketball program into high school gyms.
I don't disagree with you whole post, just that first sentence. A big part of the issue is that the Pac-12 wants teams to have a 9-game conference schedule. That could change, but who knows? The other issue is that Utah is exactly like all the other schools where football has become all about the money, tradition and rivalries be damned. BYU obviously likes getting money too since they have a deal with ESPN, but they're not in it for the money as much as everyone else. If that were the case, they'd probably be in the Big 12 already.
BULL ****. If BYU was all about the rivalry, and not money, they would agree to play 2 for 1 with Utah. THEN Utah wouldn't have to make up lost revenue, would have an additional home game when they have 5 PAC road games, etc, etc, etc. But, BYU would never agree to that (in part, because Utah is their biggest game of the year, which was evidenced by the fact that the Utah game was the most expensive ticket, by a long shot last year).
Last year, Utah bought out Iowa State and Boise St to play BYU and gave up home games. What did BYU do???? Whine like little bitches. It is the new reality. Keep pouting with your ball and whining how everyone is afraid to play you.
p.s. Don't be surprised if Utah buys the 2016 game out. They give the home game to BYU, let it cool for a year or so, then get to scheduling real teams (ie, B1G teams) and quietly buy BYU out, just like they did yesterday in buying out the road Utah State games. Just another example of Utah bending over backwards for the rivalry while BYU just sits in the corner and whines. Douchebags.
The local radio hacks can whine and complain all they want, they will actually have to do some work other than "How is Utah/BYU better than BYU/Utah in _________."
Not so sure about that. Can you imagine the venon and rhetoric thats going to build up during the 2 off years? If anything, I think it might take things up a notch. 2016 is going to be downright anarchy, especially if both schools are successful during their time apart.
I think BYU and Utah fans over estimate their own importance. While it might be a big game within the state, it doesn't resonate anywhere else. Hell, Michigan and Notre Dame are taking 2 years off in the near future, yet for some reason Ute and Cougar fans think they should be exempt from scheduling issues that go along with becoming bigger programs.