Utah Football Perception in the PAC12

[RedLine]

Something I wonder about being in the PAC12 is how other fans, teams, and coaches perceive Utah. Do coaches ever circle games against Utah? Are rivalries forming with other teams? Are the Utes viewed as threat at this point? Do fans from other teams give the team respect?

To me rivalries are good indication of truly being and belonging in a conference. Those don’t come until you take an important game from a team and end up in an envious position to them, regularly beat teams, or straight up embarrass opponents.

Looking at a few teams from the conference:

Stanford – A top PAC program and Utah beat them both years they played. But Stanford ultimately was unhurt in the losses by the end of their season.

Oregon – Now that is an embarrassing loss to spark a retribution. We played them close early in the other game, but they pulled away big by the end.

UCLA – Back and forth wins, but nothing that would indicate a rivalry growing.

USC – Wins have come on SC seasons that weren’t really heading for a special season. To the contrary, some of our SC loses have been pretty bad – including last season that was heading for a special season for us.

Any insight into the perception of Utah?

[Tony (admin)]

I think we are begrudgingly respected, primarily because of our defense.

[Anonymous]

Until Utah wins a PAC12 championship I doubt it will be positive. Every game is a must win for every team every week. I believe among Coaches and players Utah is very well respected.  Now among fan bases does it really matter?

I think you can guarantee USC fans as the most arrogant. They expect to win every game because they have been top dogs in the PAC for so many years.  They have been slightly humbled by recent coaching hires but I think they expect to win every game.

Do Stanford fans exist?  I think Stanford has people who enjoy football and happened to be alumnis. They don’t seem very fanatical as a base.

Oregon fans in my experience have been insufferable lately. They were humbled by Utah at home but Oregon still finished higher in the conference rankings.

 

[oc_ute]

i listen to sports radio in LA all day.  i’ve heard sark and mora both say that utah is always a game they worry about.  mora has been complementary saying stuff like “that team is legit” etc etc

[RedLine]

n/m

[rbmw263]

I think we are pretty well respected as a tough opponent. Even in our losing seasons we only got ran off the field very few times. A win in SLC WILL be earned. Our last 2 seasons could have swung our perception positively, or negatively, depending on who you talk to.

[Charles Satterfield]

I can’t speak for Pac 12 teams but as an SEC fan I think Utah is respected but not as much as the traditional winning programs in the Pac 12. That respect will come with the winning seasons. A couple more like last year and you will be there, I am sure.

[Big Kahuna]

I agree with the notion that Utah’s reputation in the PAC will grow over time and with winning. We still have not had a winning record in football versus the South teams in a season. That needs to change.

We are still behind in many of the non-revenue sports although baseball and softball have improved big time.

When the PAC increased to 10 the acceptance of the AZ schools was slow and those two did not have the revenue issues Utah had or has, as the case may be. That said, when attending men’s basketball at Pauley the old guard UCLA fans were questioning CU’s value versus Utah. Our rep is slowly changing.

[leftyjace]

That said, when attending men’s basketball at Pauley the old guard UCLA fans were questioning CU’s value versus Utah. Our rep is slowly changing

Can you clarify what that means? Are you saying that the UCLA fans were saying we had a lot of value, and CU didn’t? Or something else?

[Author]

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