Let’s discuss the chances of Utah getting called up to the super league

[AlohaUte]

Making the P2 (or the super league as I think that’s where it’s going – eventually the Ohio States of the world will want to ditch the Indiana’s because Indiana – and the like – adds nothing to conference and is just being carried by OSU, Michigan, etc) isn’t a sure thing for Utah. Utah has a solid chance and clearly the administration is positioning the school to get the call up. But we are on the fringe. So, what needs to happen to keep us in contention? Here’s my thoughts.

What’s in our control:
* Win baby win. Utah needs to keep up winning, even after Whit leaves. If we go the way of ASU we are toast. (I mean, just look at ASU, they should be a no brainer for the super league considering their location, market and brand potential, but they are never brought up).

* Continuing to invest in Academic quality

* Continue to invest in athletic facilities and other facilities that may be required by the B1G or SEC

* NIL, funding, and very smart financial management. Paying players is here. Only a handful of schools will be able to afford these changes in the long run. Utah as a university has been exceptionally well run and managed. That needs to continue. They need to show that financially they are able to be viable.

* Lobby, lobby, lobby and be a good, cooperative partner

Things outside our control:
* How many teams ultimately end up in the super league. If it’s just 40, we are probably out (but not definitely), if it’s 48 we have a solid chance. If it’s 60+ we are in.

* The success (or lack thereof) of Colorado, ASU, Cal, and Stanford. Each of those schools are in bigger and, arguably, more desirable markets. Colorado and ASU, respectively, probably have stronger brand potential overall than Utah. It’s in Utah’s best interest for all 4 of those schools to not be good in football. (I also might add that this same logic may apply to Kansas, TCU or SMU (DFW Metro), Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Boston College.)

* TV Ratings. This is sort of in our control (winning = more eyeballs), but nationally, Utah is a smaller fish and doesn’t move the needle much. It has vastly improved this last decade, but still. Utah needs high profile, meaningful games to try to draw as many eyeballs as possible. One of the silver linings of moving to the Big-12 is the TV deal with ESPN and (I think) Fox. That’s way better than what we had with the Pac-12.

[Onlyu]

It’s a ways out but we will be a part of the breakaway group UNLESS something crazy happens and flips the P2 idea on its head. In that case, we’re already in the P4 so one way or another we’ll be there.

Many want to take the approach and argue why we won’t but we’re not the little WAC school anymore. Research funding approaching a billion, increased enrollment and growing, AAU, more on campus housing, SLC (top 25 media market in 5 years), regional location and accessibility, Olympics within 10 years and of course the football environment, success, etc.

Despite the local naysayers who you should not waste your time with, it’s not if but when…there a handful of schools praying that the P4 stays intact but I can confidently say we’re not one of them.

As we’ve seen, things can be flipped upside down in an instant in CFB so this isn’t a guarantee but…

[AlohaUte]

I’ve generally believed this to be the case since the Pac fell apart last year. I’m pretty confident Utah will end up it the top tier regardless of what it looks like.

Personally, I think the B1G and SEC will also disintegrate (even if they do keep the name) and the schools that can afford to be in the top tier and bring value to it will break away to create a top football league outside the NCAA. I think schools like Vandy and Northwestern are left behind while Utah, ASU, Colorado, and a few other big-12 schools (maybe KU, Ok State, Baylor, TCU) get in.

[PhiladelphiaUte]

I’m not too sure about us being better positioned in the TV ratings, than we were in the Pac-12. The Big 12 has 16 teams now, so that’ll make it more difficult to get on the major networks. I believe we’ll be seeing more game on ESPN-plus, than we’d been saddled with on the PACN.

[AlohaUte]

I disagree, simply because Utah is one of the best teams in the conference and they’ll be picked more often than not.

Also, the fact that none of our games will be on the P12 Network is a big positive.

[Central Coast Ute]

I agree with most of your post. Reportedly USC wanted to bring us and not UCLA along with them. It’s nice to have a big school like that have your back. The thing is, the B1G wanted Stanford. The only reason UCLA got in is because Fox wanted them, so it really is the networks calling the shots. My point is that Stanford probably gets in before us regardless of football success.

I also don’t think we’ll get better ratings in the B12. We no longer have the LA schools, UO, or UW to play against. We’ll see more games get moved to ESPN2 and FS1 as a result.

[AlohaUte]

Yep, I agree generally about Stanford. But Stanford has some MAJOR headwinds they need to navigate. The biggest being the transfer portal. With the schools policy on not allowing transfers (the did somewhat soften this last month) there is no way Stanford will be able to compete without the administration allowing them to bring in transfers. I think this and other challenges could keep them out of the top level of CFB. Then again, maybe not.

[Central Coast Ute]

I hear you. I think Stanford will be able to get some transfers now. We’ll see if their boosters are up for NIL. They have the money, just not sure if their boosters want to pay athletes. I think Stanford being Stanford, and the series they have with ND gets them in.

[Uteanooga]

I think a lot will depend on whether the P2 expand or whether the new league starts from scratch. Take Vanderbilt’s exclusion as the certainty that many assume- Vanderbilt is a lot like Stanford. Elite school, elite endowment, elite location, less-than-elite athletics. Yes Vandy is somewhat less elite than Stanford and TN has 10m people while CA has 40m. But Vandy is in the largest city of the state and has enormous financial wherewithal.

The SEC is not going to expel Vandy. The only way Vandy gets left out is if the SEC dissolves. The problem with dissolving the SEC is that the SEC has enormous support and power. The schools within the SEC are perfectly content.

USC became discontent watching other schools surpass them in revenue. No one has surpassed the SEC schools and this looks stable for now.

If you are starting from scratch and you can choose only one between Stanford, Vanderbilt, and Utah, the decision may be harder than Utah fans want to believe.

Having said all that, I don’t see any reason to fret over Utah’s future. Utah will be included in some capacity. Will they be on equal footing as the top 10 programs? Probably not- just like the Jazz are not on equal footing with the Lakers despite the NBA’s aggressive revenue sharing. The Utes have never had the greatest advantages and that is part of the fun. Utah’s future is bright.

[MDUte]

It’s going to be interesting to see how the dominos fall with the ACC. My hope is that the SEC gets super aggressive and takes all of the following: FSU, Clemson, UNC, and VA.

All of the chatter suggests that #1 target for the SEC is UNC. But the B1G would also love to have UNC. With the current lawsuits, UNC won’t be available before FSU and Clemson since they are pushing things on their end to get out and pay the exit fee. IMO, the best case scenario is the SEC doesn’t allow the B1G to take FSU and Clemson and they take them. And then when UNC and VA become available they take them as well. The reason why is because the more of these teams the SEC takes away from the B1G the more spots remain open for the B1G to come back West to fill.

The other big thing to keep an eye on will be Notre Dame. When FSU/Clemson finally get their negotiated exit fee figured out and are out the door, before either the B1G or SEC makes a move they’re going to first want to go after Notre Dame and see if they can get them to join. I have a hard time believing Notre Dame would join the SEC over the B1G since the B1G makes so much more sense geographically and with all of their traditional rivalries. But nothing really makes sense with realignment these days. Sounds like it’s going to be 1 domino falling at a time that lead to the next domino etc.

[AlohaUte]

Regarding the SEC dissolving, I agree there is zero chance the SEC kicks Vandy or anyone out. What I think is more likely is that – kind of like what Euro soccer tried to do a couple years back (and failed miserably after massive fan backlash) – the top schools from the SEC meet with the top schools in the B1G and create their own league that they collectively own and control. I think it could be Football only. Now this league may end up being a large 40-60 team league ultimately. But they’ll be judicious in who they invite, taking into account history, brand, market size, recent football success, ability to stay financially viable and competitive, not redundant.

On that last note, it’s one reason why I think ultimately some current SEC schools will be left out. While Auburn would definitely be in despite being a 2nd team in Alabama (Auburn is a powerhouse), I expect that Mississippi State and South Carolina may be out (while Ole Miss and Clemson would be in).

One perspective that is starting to change of mine is whether or not BYU could make it in. I’ve been a definitive “no” for a while now. But the last two months are starting to change my mind. They have the backing of Ryan Smith and, allegedly, a few other billionaires backing them. We are seeing this impact in Basketball right now. If BYU essentially get’s bankrolled like Oregon, there’s a solid chance they get in too.

[Roy Rangum]

While I agree we have made ourselves good candidates, our arguments for inclusion are based on the expectation that the process will be fair and merit based, and I’m not certain that will be the case.

Ongoing realignment will be driven by multiple different factors and involve multiple different groups who have different agendas, which means that in the eventual mish mash of who goes where, it’s likely some deserving teams will still be left out in the cold.

While we should definitely hope for the best, in the meantime we need to stay humble and hungry.

Same thing goes for the Big12. While we all legitimately have good reasons to believe we can win the conference our first season in, but if Cam Rising can’t finish the season due to another injury, very little about our season is guaranteed.

[AlohaUte]

Just win baby. We are fortunate that the U is in the biggest city of a massively growing part of the country and of a state that was ranked the #1 state in the nation, with the #1 economy, a lot of new money, and with the youngest population. The state of Utah is incredibly well run (even if there are flaws and some things to complain about) and this is attracting sports and eyeballs. This is essentially why Utah just got a hockey team and baseball may not be far behind. It is probably only 3rd to Las Vegas and Nashville in terms of new & attractive sports markets.

[BD]

I know BYU fans who claim that nobody would desire Utah in the P2, and that we are out of our minds delusional to even think that Utah could get an invite.

To prove them wrong, I would like a list of prominent people who claim that Utah could or should be included in the P2.

I know of:
Rick Neuheisel (quoted in an article that just came out)
Greg Flugaur (claimed that USC wanted Utah to join the B1G)

Any others?

[MDUte]

It’s impossible to prove a Zoob wrong. No matter what you say, they’ll come up with something to discredit it (without having any data or factual support behind it).

Even if Greg Sankey and Toni Petitti came out in a press conference saying they’re both interested in inviting Utah to join their conference…even then the Zoobs would say something nonsensical like “they’re just saying they’re interested but it doesn’t mean anything until they actually do it. And that they’ll only believe it when they actually see the B1G or SEC extend an official invite to Utah”. I hope they continue shouting how delusional we are to think we’ll get an invite in the future. Because it’s only going to make the meltdown from Zoob Nation that much more epic!!! We’re talking biblical…weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth!!! And I can’t wait for that day…will be even more fun than PACmas was, which was over-the-moon awesome!!!

[BD]

No doubt! The meltdown would be beyond nuclear!!

[krindor]

Andy Staples

https://www.si.com/college/utah/football/cfb-insider-projects-utah-to-the-big-ten-in-next-conference-realignment-wave

[Jim McMahon]

I fully anticipate Utah to be part of the big realignment. You have earned it through your play on the field. Us BYU fans like to poke fun at your losses in the Rose Bowl, but of course we would swap the last 15 years of football success with you in a heartbeat.

I routinely hear national pundits (like Cowherd) talk about how much they respect Utah. Utah is a tough culture with an elite coach, and very tough D who puts a lot of guys in the NFL.

As much as it pains me to say it, football drives everything and you guys had a great rise at the right time. I’d be shocked if you’re not part of the 60 team (or whatever the number ultimately is) super league.

I also think BYU has a lot to offer and I am very surprised by BYU’s NIL spending in basketball. Maybe we’ll start to do the same in football. We have a lot to offer with good TV ratings and our sports outside of football, but we all know football drives everything and we have unfortunately been very mediocre the last decade. As of right now I would think BYU is on the bubble and I would put Utah firmly in.

[CityCreekUte]

One of the first questions I think that has to be answered is whether there will be football only conferences or even football only members or divisions if there are just 2 conferences.

Utah is a much more well rounded/respected institution right now then in the past. But right now we have a great football program. Conversely a place like Stanford or if you want to keep picking on Vanderbilt or some of these older more established institutions are bigger but have bad football.

[Hal Evans]

One of the two super conferences will want Rocky Mountain presence……..hence Utah

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