Utah to the pac-10
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5293329
Utah will join the Pac-10 Conference as its 12th team -- with an announcement coming as soon as Friday, a source tells ESPN.
This has been predicted for years. It's odd that their archrivals (BYU) aren't coming with them, though.
BYU has never been a consideration b/c of their LDS affiliation and the restrictions that that has on the school and it's athletics. For example, their star RB, Harvey Unga got kicked out of school for breaking an honor code (he had sex with his gf). Pac-10 was looking for a researched based institution, and BYU doesn't fit. It never was an option to join an expanded Pac-10.
The main reason BYU isn't viable is because they refuse to play on Sundays.
Oh, I think that fact that the student populations in Seattle, Berkeley, Eugene, Palo Alto, and Westwood would go into 1968 mode if BYU joined their league is a pretty big consideration as well.
I only hope RR would swiftly boot any member off the team for doing something as morally deplorable as having consensual intercourse with a girlfriend.
I am actually going to be attending BYU in the fall and I am curious about this move. There has been talk among BYU alums that BYU might be get left out because of its religion. I am not sure I buy that, but I am curious on your opinion. The thing with the honor code is that the athletes know what they are getting into when they sign. I am disapointed that Unga got kicked out, but it is important to preserve the atmosphere and spirit that BYU is trying to promote. I know some people disagree with me, but I really appreciate that the university will stick with what it believes in and not bend the rules for a high profile football player, unlike under the previous coach's administration
Good post. If you choose to go to BYU you know their rules upfront.
I have a degree from Utah and believe leaving BYU behind will be great for the school. The University has long needed to develop it's own identity and get out of BYU's shaddow. Moving to the Pac 10 is a great move which will benefit the university and city as a whole.
BYU can remain as a perfect annual out of conference rivalry and a rivalry with Colorado will be born.
I also have a degree from Utah. I think when you talk about athletics, Utah got out of BYU's shadow years ago. Utah had a solid basketball program throughout the 90's and into the early 2000's and they've developed a great football program over the last 6 or 7 years. BYU definitely has good athletic programs, but I think it's fair to say that Utah's athletic programs are more respected nationally than BYU's programs.
that byu is not going with them. and im suprised that the pac 10 and big 10 wont have 16 teams a piece by the end of the summer
Orrin Hatch's can shut up now.
Oh man, how many of that guy are there?!?
are a no-no my friend
Orrin Hatch graduated from BYU.
Utah is BYU's biggest rival.
BYU is still in the MWC.
What would possibly make you think that Orrin Hatch will stop lobbying against the BCS when his school's arch-rival just moved into a BCS conference and his school is still in a non-BCS conference?
We'll just have to wait to see if it comes through. I wonder how Boise State is feeling about their move into the Mountain West now. Probably still a good move, but not as appealing as it was last week.
How many phone calls has TCU's A.D. made to the Big 12 after learning of Utah's departure:
"Oh, Texas, PLEASE let us in... I'll S*ck your d*ck, man!"
ESPn is thinking this, they are hoping this, they need SOMETHING to come true for them. God knows over the past week they have looked like morons.
Some guy just told ESPN something
I have a feeling it won't matter to boise soon because after the pac10 swallows more teams, and so does the big ten, then the mountain west is going to semi merge with whats left of the big 12
They moved to the MWC, now one of the best teams left.
Not 100% b/c the trustees for Utah are still meeting tomorrow about it, but it is a mere formality. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskies/2012131948_expansion17.html
I was actually surprised to hear that Utah is the 12th winningest bball program ever. Didn't expect that. Given their competitiveness in football since the late to mid 90s, and you're actually added a pretty good athletic program to the mix.
of Los Angeles just amuses me for absolutely no reason
north/south just makes too much sense for it not to be the choice.
North: Wash, Wast St., Oregon, Oregon St., Utah, Colorado
South: Arizona, ASU, USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford
Rivalries? Check
Competitive Fairness? Check
Minimize Travel Expenses? Check
The only potential problem is the South would shit on the North in basketball, but let's be honest, the Pac-10 cares about football far more than anything else.
I always thought it would be divided more along East/West in relation to the Desert/Coast:
West: Washington, WSU, Oregon, OSU, Stanford, Cal
East: Arizona, ASU, USC, UCLA, Colorado, Utah
But I definitely like that alignment better. Either way both divisions are pretty fair and competitive.
I don't know if the South would shit on the North that much. Last year, the only Pac Ten teams in the tourney was UW and Cal, so one of each. Utah has had good bball a lot of years as has Oregon and Washington St. I think the South will likely be better than the North, but not to the degree you suggest.
It probably isn't as lopsided as I made it out to be. Maybe if USC, UCLA and Stanford all make a comeback, but it's pretty good as is.
FWIW, CBS 4 in Denver reported this split the other day:
Sources close to CU have told CBS4 Sports the Buffs are projected to be in a 6 team division in the new Pac-10. The Buffs will be joined by USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State and probably Utah, which is expected to receive an invitation to join the Pac-10.
That would leave Cal, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon St, Washington, and Washington St in the other division.
It's still early so I'm not putting much stock in any of these rumors. Personally, I like your split better because it keeps all the California teams together and it minimizes travel. It'll be interesting to see how it actually plays out.
I heard something similar after I posted that yesterday. I'm guessing that Colorado made a push to get in with the LA teams for exposure reasons. Then, you had to keep Standford and Cal together, so the logical solution was to move them to the north and add Utah to the South. Still seems pretty fair to me, although if I'm Stanford or Cal I would not be happy about being separated from the other California schools.
allow me to say: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I wish I'd gone to Vegas to put money on the Pac-12 (which, throughout the chaos, I maintained was going to be the end result). Boulder is a hell of a cultural fit for the Pac-10, and actually the university "bubble" in Salt Lake is too.
I'm thrilled.
Les Miles will leave LSU and take over for Carr as Michigan's head coach, a source tells ESPN, on the eve of the SEC Championship game.
Unlike the Big 10, the Pac-10 has a definite recruiting has/has-not issue. The recruiting is massively slanted to the LA megaplex. The northern schools will not accept any proposal that results in half the conference going to SoCal every year, and the other half not. I will be very surprised if the divisional alignment is anything other than non-geographical ACC sort, probably with protected rivalries.
The other possibility, which I think should not be discounted, is a complete eschewing of divisions, with a Big-10-style quasi-round-robin. This would also mitigate the recruiting issue mentioned above.
There is supposedly a proposed "zipper" alignment, which would split all the geographic rivalries in half: UW and WSU, Cal and Stanford, UO and OSU, UCLA and USC, and ASU and UA would all be split up into different divisions. I'd imagine Colorado and Utah would just be split up too. That way every team will play a least one So Cal team every year, and will be down there at the most, every 2 years.
Utah and Colorado are poised to dominate this conference, once California Oregon and Washington cleave off into the pacific ocean.
PAC10 and others here talking like this is a big deal? Utah? Colorado? Please. In Utah's great year in 2008, they would have been maybe 3rd in the PAC10.
about Utah moving to the Pac-10 is the effect it could have on mid-major schools getting BCS bowl bids. When Utah starts playing in the Pac-10, if they end up being a 3-5, 4-4, 5-3 team, do people start discounting an 11-1 or 12-0 TCU/Boise St? If that happens you know there will be people saying "Hey, utah went undefeated and made it to BCS bowl games in the mountain west and now they are just a middle of the pack team in the Pac-10. Odds are TCU/Boise wouldn't be undefeated or ranked so high if they were in a BCS conference".
So if that happens it will just confirm it.
The Denver Post seems to think CU and Utah are going into the south division, making it:
North: Cal, Stanford, Wash., WSU, UO, OSU
South: SC, UCLA, UA, ASU, CU, Utah
I got my MA from San Diego State and when BYU comes to town, the SDSU student section wears short-sleeved white shirts with clip on ties.
You know, if I recall correctly, Jimmer Fredetter dropped 33 last time season at SDSU, so I guess the joke was on them. Aren't they coached by our favorite guy Steve Fisher too?. Anyways, I can take a joke, but that actually is a really sore subject around Provo. There are a lot of people who are really offended by that student section.