You and me both. And not just because I enjoyed watching our Utes grow from a cute little BCS buster into a legitimate Top 25 program and major conference champion here. I’m also a proud Westerner who would prefer to see numerous seats at the big table filled by teams from the Mountain and Pacific times zones. Sure, the LA, PNW, and Four Corners schools (thank goodness) were able to latch onto other leagues to stay relevant, but I take no joy in seeing Stanford and Cal, and especially Oregon State and Wazzu, flung off into oblivion with the rest of our former MWC and WAC mates. (Am I the only one here who will always have a soft spot for Wyoming? Any team that has the courage to wear brown and yellow and the good sense to hate BYU is okay in my book.)
Smarter people than me all seem to think that the next round of realignment in 2030 will be the big one and will permanently separate the wheat from the chaff. If that’s true, the next seven years are critical if Utah wants to get out of this lifeboat and into a luxurious ocean liner. Thankfully the Utes have momentum. A big final year in the Pac-12 could launch them into contention immediately in the new conference, and the good news is that there will be no blue bloods there to overcome. Just a bunch of solid programs and a bit of cannon fodder. I can’t say I’m excited to trade games against the Ducks and Dawgs for epic battles with the Bearcats. That’s not an “arrogant” Utah fan shot at Cincinnati. There’s just no history there and no regional reason for me to care about that matchup, except a general desire for the Utes to prevail in any game they play. I’m not offended if any Cincinnati, UCF, Iowa State, West Virginia, etc. fan isn’t interested in games against Utah. I don’t expect otherwise.
Actually – and I know I’m taking a risk by saying this here – one of the few things I like about this move is that the stupid Holy War will at least mean something again. Not having that game for a few years was a welcome break and a blessing for both sides. But as long as Utah has to play BYU, which was happening most seasons even in the Pac-12 era, we might has well do it right, on Thanksgiving weekend with conference title implications. And the Utes owe TCU some payback for outscoring them something like 175-20 over the last few meetings in the MWC. (To this day, my fan group uses the safe word “TCU! TCU!” to warn anyone DVRing a patented Utah WTF loss to not watch and save themselves the pain.)
At the end of the day, this sucks. But at least it doesn’t suck more. Never have I been so relieved as a fan to have my team in a situation I hate.
Screw USC, Larry Scott, “Baghdad Bob” Kliavkoff, and the Big 12’s P.R. firm.
Go Utes!
Utah @ 
Iowa 
