[voxnihili]

I think many of the voters are only paying attention to overall record and not the specifics and that’s why the Utes are stuck in ‘receiving votes’ purgatory.

Hopefully (if Utah finishes strong) the committee considers more details, including that all three Big12 losses you listed were when McQueen was out.

[voxnihili]

I found Hockey Club less objectionable than the others until I saw the proposed logo.

I guess Mammoth is better than Outlaws. Both sound like minor league roller derby teams…

[voxnihili]

Good for her but I’m sad to see her go.

[voxnihili]

It’s surprising, given her overall play. Oddly, her FT% has dropped every year (75, 73, 67, 55).

I wondered at the time if her missing those two free throws against LSU her sophomore year would mess with her confidence. Maybe it did with the 5% drop, but the 12% drop this year is something else.

[voxnihili]

Currently, the Women’s team is shooting 75.3% for the season.

Starters are shooting 78.9%, which is impressive, given that Jenna Johnson and Maye Toure have shot 55% and 63%, respectively.

[voxnihili]

You have good points but two of them probably would probably need to be addressed to Yomark as Harlan has limited control. I’m not either of those guys (thank goodness, but I would like the salary) but I’ll take a stab at their replies (does not necessarily mean endorsement).

1. @Laramie sucks but if you were in the PAC12 (RIP) ACC, or BIG 12, the standard is home-and-home with, typically regional G5s. It’s weird that the Utes go to Laramie first but far from unprecedented. Utah probably could/should have picked a better recruiting location for their G5 h/h but, a) with the transfer portal/NIL, does it really matter anymore; and , b) many fans have expressed a desire to use our G5 games to see old MWC opponents in out OOC.

2. This question is for Yomark. Currently, the Big12 plays 9 conference games so Harlan only had three that could be scheduled (though, cfb games are scheduled so far in advance, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these were scheduled under Hill. I mean, we’ve got games scheduled as far out as 2033 – and that game was scheduled in spring 2021, but I digress…). There are theories as to why the Big12 and Big Ten are still doing nine conference games while the ACC and SEC do eight but that’s a different point for now.

3. Yeah, I don’t like playing BYU either but this is another Yomark question. Harlan had little to no control over it. The one request Utah really could make (and always has requested) is to not play on the first weekend in October. Otherwise, the Big12 does not do ‘Rivalry Week’. The belief is that they are better suited for TV ratings to have those rivalry games scattered on the schedule rather than having them all face each other as well as facing Alabama-Auburn, OSU-Michigan, etc. on tv at the same time. FWIW, the Big12 only considers 4 games protected (every year rivalries): UA-ASU, BYU-Utah, Kansas-Kansas State, and Baylor-TCU. I don’t like it, either but if you asked Harlan, all he could say is, ask Yomark and the conference.

[voxnihili]

I also am withholding optimism until I see how he works out at Utah.

OTOH, it’s hard to pin the 5-7 record on Beck when the defense was giving up 38 points per game. There were only four worse scoring defenses in FBS.

Utah had a couple of common opponents with UNM this year. Lobos scored 39 at Arizona (Utah 10) and lost because their defense gave up 61. 50 points at Utah State (Utah 38) and won, despite their defense giving up 45.

[voxnihili]

I don’t know what the contract is but the rumors were that the Sparks were willing to pay to to $2 million per year.

Edit: Looks like she was set to make $822k at Utah this year.

[voxnihili]

Exactly what Miami said.

Going to coach in the pros, gets a hefty raise, no longer has to recruit/deal with NIL, and gets to go home to California. A no-brainer for the coach.

The new coach, Gavin Peterson, has been an assistant at the University for all of Roberts’ time here and he has been the Associate Head Coach for five (going on six years). I think the school has been expecting this situation for a while.

[voxnihili]

I’m not the person that you asked but if you are interested in my perspective on the topic:

As a Utahn that grew up in the 80s-90s, there was a lot of arrogance directed at me for being a Utes fan when most of my classmates were cheering for BYU. Whatever, but when the rivalry started to shift to equality (and later Utah dominance), those same people were very angry, regardless of how I tried to approach the situation.

But more specifically for me, I went to a basketball game years ago and watched Utah and BYU fans yelling at each other in the upper bowl over a meaningless non-conference game. At that point, I turned to my friend and said, “you know, this isn’t fun any more.” It was true. There is a certain part of both fanbases that are so wound up about the rivalry that they get unreasonable. So I checked out of it all. I enjoy my team and some good banter but am too old to deal with people whose self-worth is defined by their college team.

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