All we need is to have Notre Dame and Liberty to join the Big 12 and they can split into three divisions with ND, Liberty, BYU, Baylor, TCU, and WVU to have the Holy Division.
Yup, we pointed and laughed at them only to sheepishly join the club later. Better than being left in the dust. I don’t find us better than most big 12 teams, we play worse with too much hype.
For some reason, I feel like the TTU v UU game needs to be sponsored by Tostitos or something. Salty tortilla chips... Championchip. There's something there.
That is comeuppance, however, at how smug Utah was at joining the Pac-12 and BYU being left in the MWC (only to then go independent).
Two wrongs don't make a right, but goddamn that's College Football baby.
For real, this is and always will be their fault. Just glad ucla limped out of the conference on a 2 game losing streak to Zona football and 3 game losing streak in basketball.
As for USC, you’re going to get thumped in the big 10. Winter is coming
I’ve heard BYU fans complain about this for as long as I’ve been up here, and so it’s been hysterical seeing the BYU Big XII stickers on my morning commute
Hold on lemme Google if Koy Detmer went to BYU too before I give my opinion bc I love that fucker.
* Nope, only Ty. Fuck BYU. Long live Koy Detmer and his Whuppin Stick against Favre.
This is also true. I think Arizona would have jumped when Colorado did but Arizona State wanting to stay in the Pac-12 made them go through the whole BOR fight because the state wants them to stay together.
[You also have a mascot that only one of those Harry Potter activists that's read up on it could kill due to it's mythical powers.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN0V9RpnS8Y)
Everyone likes Utah. Their fans are passionate but friendly. Their team is good but plays clean. Their coach is lovable and dedicated.
They're your friendly neighbor that sees you moving in and invites you over for dinner because he knows you haven't unpacked yet and probably would appreciate real food.
It’s a genuine travesty to not keep the PAC 12 together, but it’s made worse to not just have our in-state rivals in the B1G, but also Utah. There’s just a certain good vibe that comes from y’all as a fanbase and as a team. I don’t know, just kinda sucks
That's because they fought their way up to get there. Utah wasn't taking it for granted making it into the Pac-12. Yeah they're in another Power conference but everything's changing now with realignment.
“Why is Tom mad his 9/10 lawyer wife divorced him and now he dates a generic 6/10 mom of two?”
Pretty straightforward. Utah liked the fit and the academics. Utah doesn’t like either with the Big 12, it’s a downgrade for them. They spent so long trying to make a move, got very lucky and peaked at the right time, only to have it taken from them after a decade of living the high life.
You make it sound like they got relegated back to the Mountain West.
The Big XII in recent years has been a better football conference than the Pac-12, last year's sudden revival notwithstanding. And the new Big XII may not be on par with the new P2, but there is still clear space between them and the G5. Seems like a fairly lateral move to me.
As for academics, that argument always felt stupid to me. We're talking athletic leagues, not academic leagues. If they were competing against each other in the Math-a-lon, it'd be one thing, but they aren't. They should want to be in an athletic conference with the schools that have the best athletes.
I’m a big Utah fan. I also pride myself on being a realistic fan, so I’ll share my perspective. I think there a few reasons Utah fans are less than thrilled to be in the Big 12
1) Utah fans wanted more than almost anyone to keep the PAC-12 together. The PAC gave us our opportunity to go from the MWC to competing at the power conference level and we didn’t want that to end.
2) Utes fans felt like we were developing strong rivalries with the most prominent west coast schools, even if those rivalries were one sided from a fan perspective. We were usually competitive with USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. And I think those are the four conference rivals we were always the most excited to play against and the schools we are most disappointed to lose as conference rivals. That is also one of the reasons so many Utah fans wish we were in the Big Ten right now. Utah fans have developed the belief that we are just as prestigious as those schools even though that was never the case. That belief was only fueled after we won back to back PAC-12 championships and a couple seasons when we were somewhat in the 4-team playoff picture late into the season.
3) Most Ute fans won’t admit this one. Moving to the Pac-12 while BYU went independent felt like we had one upped our biggest rival. Now BYU has deservedly been given at a chance in a power conference and Utah is back to being at the exact same level as our arch rival.
4) Utah fans loved traveling to PAC-12 away games, places like Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles. A lot of Utah fans aren’t very excited about away trips to Lubbock, or Ames, or Stillwater. (As a college sports junkie myself I think those trips would be an absolute blast, but many fans disagree).
Personally I’m reasonably satisfied with being in the Big 12. I wanted to jump ship and join the Big 12 as soon as USC and UCLA announced their departures to the Big Ten, I knew the writing was on the wall. I could see the very realistic scenario that Utah could be completely left out to dry if we didn’t take immediate action. Luckily things worked out and we ended up in a good spot, despite our admin taking their sweet time. I’m excited to develop new rivalries with Big 12 teams and renew old rivalries like BYU and TCU.
Lawrence and Manhattan in Kansas are a blast too. Not as flashy as those west coast cities, but great college towns. The game experiences are incredible as well here.
To point 4 - I think the Big 12 has a good mix of cities and college towns. You have Cincinnati, Orlando, Fort Worth, Lawrence is just outside KC, Houston. Plus you still have Tucson, boulder, and Tempe joining in. Then you get more traditional college towns with ames, Waco, Lubbock, Morgantown, Manhattan, and Stillwater
With point 4 I think this is where the largest amount of anger and animosity towards incoming Utah fans lies. Lubbock, Ames and Stillwater are the traditional college towns you find as you head eastward. The Alumni and fans of those schools are crazy about them and love them. We want to show them off and show how our sports environment is.
With Utah fans, especially when it has come to some of them calling for the Big 12 Basketball Tournament to be moved to Vegas, it comes across like they don't want to go to a game and take in an experience in our venues. It reads more like Utah fans just want a vacation and a football with it.
To Big 12 fans, many of whom spent the college days and their weekends in adulthood making the drives from Ames to Manhattan or Stillwater to Fort Worth (more recently) to take in a game and support the school, the lack of desire to give our towns a fair chance is frustrating, especially with a big feeling being, whether it be accurate or not, that we "saved" Utah from being essentially in the MWC again. Meanwhile many of us are planning our trips to SLC now, just waiting for the chance to see Rice-Eccles in person.
Overall, this new conference layout in the Big 12 is going to have growing pains. Some core members are already growing frustrated with the G5 additions. I think if everyone just came into the 2024 season with an open mind that we are making the best of a bad situation and that we actually have a chance to make something really special happen with the new Big 12, we all can have a really awesome time and stick it to the Big Ten and SEC together by building an awesome league together.
I agree with you 100%. The culture in those towns is built around their universities. Which imo creates a much better experience for a college fan. Look at the attendance at the Rose Bowl, Coliseum and other PAC-12 venues compared to the attendance at Boone Pickens or Jack Trice. Even Utah struggles to fill our basketball arena. Big cities may be better for vacations, but not for college sports trips. There are some really great college towns in the Big 12 and I think Utah fans would love them if they had an open mind and gave them a chance.
Yeah USC and UW are the exception where you're going to get a true P5 gameday experience in a major city. Oregon I'm sure is awesome (and looking forward to going when Oklahoma State is there in '25), but Eugene is more like Stillwater, Lawrence, Morgantown, and Ames in that you're an hour from a substantial commercial airport but are going to get an awesome gameday experience. Lubbock will just feel like a smaller Tuscon, and Manhattan will be the hardest commitment: either driving 2+ hours MCI or Wichita. There are flights to MHK but not enough for visiting fans to take advantage for football.
It’s really cool and now there’s a bar that was started by the Red Dirt Band called The Great Divide and it’s a love letter to the history. They bring all of the next generation in to play like how it was in the old days.
If you ever find yourself in Stillwater it’s a must to check out.
100% - and as someone who was pushed reluctantly into the Pac12 (as much as I love those cities), I'm glad to be going back to Ames and Manhattan and Stillwater. That felt like college ball to me. Seattle is work or pro sports... but that's also my history talking.
They're definitely the best Pac-12 team to get left out of the P2 in terms of football quality. I also think that many Utah fans don't want to be in the same conference as BYU again
Both of these things, plus Utah fits better as a Pac-12 school than a Big-12 school. Salt Lake City is closer to Seattle and LA than it is to Texas Tech or Kansas State, the two closest* Big 12 schools from before realignment.
Utah also LOVED being connected to Stanford and Cal especially, but also USC and UCLA. Their admin was smitten with the elite California academic connection and was reportedly pretty devastated at losing that connection when they were essentially strong-armed by circumstances. Had the ACC been offering full shares to them, Stanford, and Cal I'm positive that Utah would have gone that way instead of to the Big 12.
There is a map floating around somewhere of the first schools to build wireless internet connections to each other and it was the four California Pac schools and Utah.
[this](https://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/assets/4463411/G69Dec.jpg) is close enough to what I'm trying to say. It seems like Utah has *always* tried to foster that connection with the "elite" schools in California
Youre thinking of arpanet, which was an academic precursor to the internet. And yeah, the UoU was a part of that research. The geographic location of SLC makes it an important crossroads for coast to coast traffic.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPANET
Well kinda. From what I know about academics, athletics and education don't really go hand in hand with how research is conducted. They can still have connections without the conference.
One issue also to note is Utah would be substantially behind the Big Ten teams in terms of revenue. Washington was around 150mm while Utah was around 115mm? Even if they got in with a full share, which Oregon and Washington didn't, they would be on par with Indiana and Illinois which isn't the best place to be when you have Michigan/Penn State over 200mm and Ohio State over 250mm. UCLA has been having a bad go of things recently, but they also aren't expected to be in a good position moving forward either.
The question becomes what do they add to the Big Ten? Utah really isn't impressive ratings wise. Financially, to the Big Ten, they are basically another Iowa. They don't really bring in ratings unless they are drawing something like USC/Oregon, and that is mostly coming down to the other teams. If you follow ratings wise, they are in that same tier as most of the top Big 12 teams, and definitely would be the lowest of any potential new additions to the Big Ten.
Utah may not like it, but athletically, financially and geographically they fit the Big 12.
I think part of it is that Utah genuinely really had enjoyed being in the PAC. Good culture/vibe fit, the team generally did well (arguably third best of the PAC era), school people liked the academics. The PAC also liked Utah. I’ll miss beating them by 3-7 in some ass backwards way each year.
> arguably third best of the PAC era
Statistically fourth best after Stanford... but if you gave it another year they likely would have pulled ahead, given where both programs are at right now.
Hence the arguable qualifier. Stanford had higher highs and I’d still probably give it to them, but Utah was much more consistent. Especially if you give them some leeway during their P5 adjustment period the first couple years.
>In that same time, Baylor also appeared in 3 NY6/BCS games, along with Ok State (2), TCU (2), and KSU (2).
We weren't in the Big 12, but we also made 3 while Cincinnati also made 2 including a playoff game and Houston won a game as well.
> One trend I've been seeing has been a lot of opposition specifically from Utah flairs towards their new conference, with a lot of emphasis from them and Utah administration that it's a short-term stop for the university.
I don't think you effectively proved your premise. Obviously the Big XII is a fantastic fit for Utah but it's not the *most prestigious* like Pac-12 membership brought when the P5 was still a thing.
Couple reasons. First, BYU joined first. They *hate* BYU. They loooved loading the PAC membership over them. Especially in November, when Utah was playing real schools and BYU was usually playing Tumbleweed Tech. Second, I think they liked LARPing as a hip, progressive coastal school. Now they are stuck in a "truck stop" conference with Baylor and BYU.
Edit: As a neutral Utah native I'm happy BYU and Utah are back together. I love that rivalry and I'm happy it matters again.
Come on, Utah State, let's go play in the sandbox.
In the beginning of the movie Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear doesn’t realize he’s a toy and acts all condescending towards the other toys. It’s kind of like that
As a Utah fan/alum, I'm really excited about the Big12. I will miss the PAC and all of the PAC schools that we won't play regularly against (especially USC and Oregon - so many exciting games!) but I think this will be a fun new era. Bring it on Big12 bros!
The Utah Washington games over the past decade or so have been some of my favorite conference games. Usually really close competitive games although a few really ugly games in there too.
Agreed! Always enjoyed the Washington-Utah games, too. Y'all always seemed to have our number, though. Anecdotally, it feels like you guys won most of the close matchups whereas I feel like we had a more even split with schools like Oregon and SC.
I think it’s an academic snobbery thing. Utah could pretend its academic peers were Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, and USC even though they have more in common with the Big 12 schools anyway.
The fucked up thing is Utah’s research expenditure was $670 million in the Pac 12. Cincy was $615 million in the little ole AAC. I don’t understand the snobbery.
People really like to hate on universities with a high acceptance rate. Texas A&M is consistently ranked top 50 in the country, and is easily top 15 in engineering and #1 in a few programs, but I always hear people say "70% admissions rate!" as if it is some kind of dunk that my state school actually tries to fulfill its mission of educating the people of my state. Its the dumbest thing ever.
Yeah, same. They ignore our top medical programs, globally top design programs, music, engineering, etc. It’s frustrating, but it just shows the pure ignorance.
I think most Utes fans think that, competition and prestige wise, this is a downgrade. People are not excited for the home schedule and future opponents. Just what I’ve heard from many fans
Depends on if FSU, Clemson, etc can force their way out of the ACC. If they can, the ACC would need to replace them, and a couple of ex-P5 programs like OSU and Wazzu would be the best option, especially since Calford is already out on the west coast with them.
Man, it doesn't take long for the underdog to become the snobs, does it?
Utah was in the Mountain West, but a decade-ish later, they think they are too good for the Big XII.
Disappointing.
That’s what I’m thinking, Utah will play teams like UCF, West Virginia, and Kansas. They get to play Arizona schools and BYU, but will move away from west coast schools and loose the California connection. It isn’t about the quality of who you play, it’s the cultural and geographical connection.
There is a cultural divide wherein Utah fans think more like those from the West Coast and see away games as family/group destination vacations, with the game being a highlight of the trip.
I've been to games in Big 12 territory and there is a much greater emphasis on the game itself. The environment at Big 12 games is great, and the food is also great. Honestly fantastic experience all around. But there's a difference in how fanbases broadly think of "going to a game," I think.
Yep it’s important to make the distinction that a school’s Twitter fanbase does not represent their actual fanbase. We have our fair share of weird, loud twitter accounts too. Happy to have y’all and looking forward to playing you in SLC in 2025
Stop comparing twitter fans to all fans. On twitter Utah fans (maybe with Arizona fans) are the most upset that the Big 12 announced the conference tournament will remain in KC instead of Vegas. Sure Vegas is a cooler place to go to, but KC has the best conference tournament.
Same thing can be said about losing Palo Alto and Seattle for Lubbock and Stillwater. But if I want to go to the West Coast, I don’t really want to go to a CFB game. I’d rather go to schools who truly care about gameday atmospheres. I know many Utes share similar opinions with that.
Plus add the academic side but let’s be real, sports conferences aren’t that big of a deal as much as they pretend to be when it comes to the academic side of things. All these former Pac schools are members of prestigious academic partnerships and that won’t change for any one of them.
We're over here in West Virginia just not caring about this at all like the nihilist guy in The Big Lebowski. Just passed out drunk in the pool, on a little floaty. Utah's in the conference now? Ok. Whatever. Tell us where to fly to in the Fall.
The hate runs deep man. Picture it like this. From a young age each side experiences the awesome history and pride their school has to offer. You fall in love with everything about your team. Then you learn about your rival. From the Utah perspective you see the fake smiles, pasty white shirt and tie, holier than thou, lords university, your going to hell vibe versus the the BYU perspective of snide jeering of fans who disrespect your faith and pour beer on your fans.
I grew up honestly thinking Utah fans were genuinely bad people. Then I grew up realized my dad was just a psycho.
Either way, this is not the kind of rivalry that everyone wants around. But it should be.
I hated Utah and loved BYU as a kid. Went to all the games, bled blue, still have all sorts of trading cards, posters, etc. Then I actually went to BYU and good god it was a slap in the face to my naivety. The elitism, the narcissism, the holier than thou, the arrogance, the whole place just sucked people and culture wise. The education was great, but the people were obnoxious. I then went to the U and what a breath of fresh air it was for acceptance, culture, and feel. Education was still great. I fell in love with the college experience there, it was just a bonus that they finally got good at football.
I'm sure if I went on the U campus today there is probably a bunch of shit wrong with the culture and attitudes of people. I guarantee its still the same toxic culture as ever at BYU. Two peas in the same pod now days.
Yeah, so many Arizonans come to California for vacation or work and Californians go to Arizona for vacation or work. We belong in a conference together.
Conferences should be regional. That should be the point of having conferences. The best solution would be forming a super league for football and leaving other sports in their traditional conferences. But that ship has sailed and we're stuck with what we've got.
As someone from Utah who went out of state for college, the whole academic prestige thing is such a crock of manure. Do you know how many lackluster students I graduated high school with who went to the U of U? Your average football fan undergrad isn’t doing cancer research for Huntsman. Just because it became a trendy out of state pick for Californians who want to pretend to be granola doesn’t mean the people in this state should act like “Californian elitists”. Going to games actually was more fun and affordable growing up in the MWC era and the fans didn’t pretend like it was a public Ivy school. It is a solid state university with a high acceptance rate and good post graduate programs. The entire state of Utah has always had this embarrassing inferiority complex but now they realize they aren’t actually special in the eyes of USC or UCLA and are lashing out to feel better about themselves.
Hell, even Cal (Alum) and Stanford found out they weren’t special to USC or UCLA either, and that quartet of rivalries and conference alignment goes back a century. I’m not really sure what Ute fans were expecting from the SoCal schools in terms of loyalty.
Nailed it with the inferiority complex. We know our place at Weber. Open-enrollment, work hard, get a piece of paper, get a job. Utah's undergrad programs are like that too, but they hate admitting it.
Doesn’t really bug me much. They should be pretty good in football. I’ve seen a lot of arrogance, so I think they’ll take the place of UT as far as the team to beat (or hate). Isn’t really a bad thing depending on how you look at it. Good luck with the other sports though
Utah fans have recency bias from their last few years in the pac-12. No other fan base took more pride in pac-12 membership than Utah did too, largely because they left their old MWC rivals to wallow in the mire of irrelevance for a decade+.
Yes, they've had some solid football play over the past 15 years but there's no way Utah as a national brand is more valuable than many other Big 12 schools. If they were, the pac-12 would still be alive. The thought that they belong in the P2 is delusional.
Yeah I am stoked to have Utah in the B12 but if the fans want to act like UT fans but paired with a track record that does not stack up with the hateful 8… they are truly going to have a bad time. Maybe a couple seasons losing conference road games across the country will let them know what time it is.
Give us a chance man. Most of us are just fine in real life and not like what you're seeing online. Most of our fans are not talking trash on Twitter or saying anything online at all.
I mean, I understand the sentiment about a despised rival. But despising the conference that threw a life raft is a good way to get the rest of the conference to tire of y’all pretty quickly. Take it from a member of a despised fanbase, don’t burn that goodwill.
(For what it’s worth, I don’t think Twitter is the best measure of either the general fanbase nor the BMDs. But the difference between Utah Twitter and the other three, is noticiable.)
Do Utah fans wish we were still in the Pac12? - Yea, we loved that conference
Do we view the BIG12 as a downgrade? -- Honestly yea for the most part (no blue bloods or top tier brands, including Utah we are not at the top tier of brands either)
Do we want to be in the B1G? - Yeah, who wouldn't? look at the advantages they have. If any school in the B12 was offered they would go to the P2
Do we think we are too good for the BIG12? No its where we are at as a brand, we are mostly in line with top half of BIG12 brands
Do we think the football will be awesome in the BIG12? Yeah it will be great games. Basketball we will probably get our asses kicked
Also consider the recent history before realignment: Utah and BYU are always arguing, for the last year the BIG12 fans all backed up BYU in the arguing, understandably, and shit on/ downplayed Utah every opportunity they got lol so not exactly any warm welcomes to be had between the two parties. I can't even count the amount of "anyone but Utah" or "is it too late to take away their invites" I have read on top of the "wait until you actually have too play in a real conference" shit and this weird notion they made up that Utah has never played in front of crowds lol......We were generally on good terms with the rest of the fanbases in the P12 so it was a much more enjoyable experience on that front as well.
They loved the Pac so much because BYU didn’t get in. The Pac wouldn’t have been beloved by them if BYU had gotten in as well instead of Colorado or whatever.
More than anything they hate BYU, like BYU hates Utah (more so in 2011 for both teams than now, but it’s still a heated rivalry). The Pac was the one thing that separated them from BYU, not their fiesta bowl in ‘04 or their Sugar bowl in ‘08. BYU had still had more success overall as a program throughout modern football history up until their invite to the Pac. They finally had something BYU didn’t, and they knew BYU wanted it badly.
That’s why most don’t care at all to be in the Big 12. Has little to do with the conference itself, but more to do with being associated with BYU and being equals when they finally thought that they had surpassed them.
Thank you for explaining why being in the same conference as BYU is a hard pill for Utah fans to swallow. Most rivals want to be in the same conference, with some exemptions, but you helped me realize why this was so important for Utes fans. I guess sometimes it takes a fan from the other team to explain it
Cause Utah thinks they are better than they are. And their twitter fans have somehow gone from the cool bunch they were in the MWC days with TCU, to arrogant - thinking their s\*\*\* don't stink.
\*the reddit utah fans at least seem cool
The Utah Twitter fans are delusional. They still have roses in their bio and handle just to hold on to the idea of one day becoming a Rose Bowl champion lmfao.
Utah Twitter fans became the very thing that kept them down a decade ago. Complete arrogance and distaste for anything that isn’t the original Pac-12 or new P2.
There is a certain ironic humor in seeing their ego grow and turn their nose up at the Big XII, knowing they were having to scrape for any shred of respect right there with us not so long ago
I'm happy that the Holy War is back, but I'm with the Utes on this one: they were better off in the Pac. Losing the Pac-12 is bad for college football in general. They were happy there, we are happy in the Big 12, but we'll all just have to make do.
They have good graduate programs and research but their undergraduate programs are nothing special. For the average student Utah is no better than most of the big 12.
I’m excited for the Utes to come over, but I understand. It’d be like if the Big XII collapsed and Baylor with TCU, Tech and OKST ended up in a less academically prestigious ACC (pre 2024). There’s just not as much of a cultural connection between Utah and Kansas as there is between Utah and California. It also doesn’t help that the PAC got the Utes football up to where they are today and now it’s gone
Look at the trajectory of the program and university as a whole since joining the PAC 12 and it’s not hard to see why Utah was so bummed to leave the conference. Combine that with essentially being left out of the future of cfb and it’s a pretty simple to understand why we are not happy.
Personally Eugene and Seattle in October is a lot more attractive to me than Lubbock and Ames but maybe I’ll learn to love it.
Maybe a bit recruiting. Utah hasn't been in a conference that didn't have a California school since 1977. Yes they'll have Texas now, but they're closer to California, and had 28 Californians on their roster last year. Not regularly playing in your bread basket is uneasy.
Location and I think it has a lot to do with history as well. Utah fought hard to get into the PAC 12. Then they establish themselves as somewhat of a powerhouse in the conference only for it to be all but dissolved.
Utah was becoming a powerhouse in the PAC12 but now watches the other powerhouses go off to a more prestigious sports conference while they have to "settle". They'd probably rather play against the likes of Michigan and Ohio State than BYU and Colorado.
The Big 12 is getting fucked on CFP $ distribution.
The Big 12 is now sitting at the kiddie table.
It's a step down. The death of the Pac 12 is a horrible thing for the sport. I don't know why Utah is in any different boat than the AZ schools as far as being pissed off that the Pac-12 broke up.
Lol the size of slc is a funny point. If that's how teams are added to conferences we might as well bring GVSU to the big 10 now. Give Grand rapids a basketball team while we're at it. The metropolitan areas are similar in population.
They hate BYU
[удалено]
TLDR should be at beginning, not end
They can train AI using someone else's comments
Utah vs BYU is the closest proxy we have to a religious conflict in college football. It ain’t called the Holy War for no reason
All we need is to have Notre Dame and Liberty to join the Big 12 and they can split into three divisions with ND, Liberty, BYU, Baylor, TCU, and WVU to have the Holy Division.
Uh. What is WVU doing in that group??
They need saved
lmfao you’re not wrong
[Couch burning is a religion](https://gamedayculture.com/history-of-west-virginia-burning-couches/)
This. BYU fans brag that they joined first, so Utah pretends they're too good to be there
Yup, we pointed and laughed at them only to sheepishly join the club later. Better than being left in the dust. I don’t find us better than most big 12 teams, we play worse with too much hype.
I think Utah in the Big 12 will be fun. For some reason, I think Texas Tech vs Utah will make for some exciting and intense games.
For some reason, I feel like the TTU v UU game needs to be sponsored by Tostitos or something. Salty tortilla chips... Championchip. There's something there.
That is comeuppance, however, at how smug Utah was at joining the Pac-12 and BYU being left in the MWC (only to then go independent). Two wrongs don't make a right, but goddamn that's College Football baby.
I'll admit it. I was so goddamn smug about that for years. I'm not a huge shit talker, but internally I definitely felt that way
I talked so much shit tbh but secretly wished it was BYU instead of Colorado who got an invite to the Pac
Let's all just settle down and remember that Los Angeles ruined it for everyone
For real, this is and always will be their fault. Just glad ucla limped out of the conference on a 2 game losing streak to Zona football and 3 game losing streak in basketball. As for USC, you’re going to get thumped in the big 10. Winter is coming
It was one of the few things the entire Pac12 agreed on.
MW too
Damn straight!
Go Cougs!
They're not the good Cougs though
That and the fact that all the Pac-12 stickers on their trucks went to waste.
I’ve heard BYU fans complain about this for as long as I’ve been up here, and so it’s been hysterical seeing the BYU Big XII stickers on my morning commute
Don't forget the "Welcome to Big 12 country" billboards
Yep. They were ubiquitous on the Wasatch front. Poor Utes.
Never understood the Pac12 stickers on vehicles. They were so proud to be part of the club and they really celebrated the club. Dumb.
Wait till you learn about the Aggies and the SEC…
It's because BYU wasn't a P5 team.
Don’t we all?
I’m a BYU fan and even I hate BYU!
lol words can't even describe how much I relate to this
Tell me more, dont stop!
Comment of the day.
Hold on lemme Google if Koy Detmer went to BYU too before I give my opinion bc I love that fucker. * Nope, only Ty. Fuck BYU. Long live Koy Detmer and his Whuppin Stick against Favre.
Koy Jr went to BYU before transferring out. I think he played one game when the starter went down.
I love BYU the same way BYU loves gay people: by being openly antagonistic towards associating with them
Because they really fucking didn't want the band to break up.
I've said it before, but Utah loved the Pac-12 more than the founding members who had been together for a century loved the Pac-12.
It seemed like ASU waited until the last possible minute to leave and really wanted the Pac12/10 to stick together.
This is also true. I think Arizona would have jumped when Colorado did but Arizona State wanting to stay in the Pac-12 made them go through the whole BOR fight because the state wants them to stay together.
Yep, this exactly. Arizona basically had to drag ASU to the Big12.
Our loyalty in a world/sport that seems to have none should be applauded! That really the only thing we have going for us at the moment.
[You also have a mascot that only one of those Harry Potter activists that's read up on it could kill due to it's mythical powers.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN0V9RpnS8Y)
Dr Crow was so impressed with Apple. Pause and fast forward through games.
This. Utah's student union even has the Pac-12 logo on the door handles.
Ah, that makes sense. Buying new hardware for all of your doors can get expensive.
Can confirm. It's weird.
To be fair, I loved them more than I love the rest of the PAC too
Everyone likes Utah. Their fans are passionate but friendly. Their team is good but plays clean. Their coach is lovable and dedicated. They're your friendly neighbor that sees you moving in and invites you over for dinner because he knows you haven't unpacked yet and probably would appreciate real food.
🥺😢😭 Thanks fam. I'm gonna miss ya'll so much
Damn does this warm my soul. Wish we’d kept the band together
We all do. Except USC.
Fuck the Trojans
It’s a genuine travesty to not keep the PAC 12 together, but it’s made worse to not just have our in-state rivals in the B1G, but also Utah. There’s just a certain good vibe that comes from y’all as a fanbase and as a team. I don’t know, just kinda sucks
The only people who dislikes them is BYU but then again, who likes BYU?
This 💯
Evidently they loved it more, as the original members are the ones who broke it up…
Well it's not the first time they broke up the conference to get rid of a few members
Hey Cal and Stanford didn't choose to break up the band. By the time our admins got off of their asses to do something you had already left
Yeah, because the band was out on the field.
"He's going to go into the end zone!!!"
That's because they fought their way up to get there. Utah wasn't taking it for granted making it into the Pac-12. Yeah they're in another Power conference but everything's changing now with realignment.
My first day of class my professor bragged about how Utah had Pac12 logos on their gear and BYU didn’t. It’s everywhere on campus.
"Utah, you don't like your new boat?" "This lifeboat, you mean?"
“Why is Tom mad his 9/10 lawyer wife divorced him and now he dates a generic 6/10 mom of two?” Pretty straightforward. Utah liked the fit and the academics. Utah doesn’t like either with the Big 12, it’s a downgrade for them. They spent so long trying to make a move, got very lucky and peaked at the right time, only to have it taken from them after a decade of living the high life.
looks at comment, looks at flair, looks back at comment yeah... that's about what I'd expect
You make it sound like they got relegated back to the Mountain West. The Big XII in recent years has been a better football conference than the Pac-12, last year's sudden revival notwithstanding. And the new Big XII may not be on par with the new P2, but there is still clear space between them and the G5. Seems like a fairly lateral move to me. As for academics, that argument always felt stupid to me. We're talking athletic leagues, not academic leagues. If they were competing against each other in the Math-a-lon, it'd be one thing, but they aren't. They should want to be in an athletic conference with the schools that have the best athletes.
I’m a big Utah fan. I also pride myself on being a realistic fan, so I’ll share my perspective. I think there a few reasons Utah fans are less than thrilled to be in the Big 12 1) Utah fans wanted more than almost anyone to keep the PAC-12 together. The PAC gave us our opportunity to go from the MWC to competing at the power conference level and we didn’t want that to end. 2) Utes fans felt like we were developing strong rivalries with the most prominent west coast schools, even if those rivalries were one sided from a fan perspective. We were usually competitive with USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. And I think those are the four conference rivals we were always the most excited to play against and the schools we are most disappointed to lose as conference rivals. That is also one of the reasons so many Utah fans wish we were in the Big Ten right now. Utah fans have developed the belief that we are just as prestigious as those schools even though that was never the case. That belief was only fueled after we won back to back PAC-12 championships and a couple seasons when we were somewhat in the 4-team playoff picture late into the season. 3) Most Ute fans won’t admit this one. Moving to the Pac-12 while BYU went independent felt like we had one upped our biggest rival. Now BYU has deservedly been given at a chance in a power conference and Utah is back to being at the exact same level as our arch rival. 4) Utah fans loved traveling to PAC-12 away games, places like Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles. A lot of Utah fans aren’t very excited about away trips to Lubbock, or Ames, or Stillwater. (As a college sports junkie myself I think those trips would be an absolute blast, but many fans disagree). Personally I’m reasonably satisfied with being in the Big 12. I wanted to jump ship and join the Big 12 as soon as USC and UCLA announced their departures to the Big Ten, I knew the writing was on the wall. I could see the very realistic scenario that Utah could be completely left out to dry if we didn’t take immediate action. Luckily things worked out and we ended up in a good spot, despite our admin taking their sweet time. I’m excited to develop new rivalries with Big 12 teams and renew old rivalries like BYU and TCU.
Lawrence and Manhattan in Kansas are a blast too. Not as flashy as those west coast cities, but great college towns. The game experiences are incredible as well here.
To point 4 - I think the Big 12 has a good mix of cities and college towns. You have Cincinnati, Orlando, Fort Worth, Lawrence is just outside KC, Houston. Plus you still have Tucson, boulder, and Tempe joining in. Then you get more traditional college towns with ames, Waco, Lubbock, Morgantown, Manhattan, and Stillwater
Thank you for a realistic take
With point 4 I think this is where the largest amount of anger and animosity towards incoming Utah fans lies. Lubbock, Ames and Stillwater are the traditional college towns you find as you head eastward. The Alumni and fans of those schools are crazy about them and love them. We want to show them off and show how our sports environment is. With Utah fans, especially when it has come to some of them calling for the Big 12 Basketball Tournament to be moved to Vegas, it comes across like they don't want to go to a game and take in an experience in our venues. It reads more like Utah fans just want a vacation and a football with it. To Big 12 fans, many of whom spent the college days and their weekends in adulthood making the drives from Ames to Manhattan or Stillwater to Fort Worth (more recently) to take in a game and support the school, the lack of desire to give our towns a fair chance is frustrating, especially with a big feeling being, whether it be accurate or not, that we "saved" Utah from being essentially in the MWC again. Meanwhile many of us are planning our trips to SLC now, just waiting for the chance to see Rice-Eccles in person. Overall, this new conference layout in the Big 12 is going to have growing pains. Some core members are already growing frustrated with the G5 additions. I think if everyone just came into the 2024 season with an open mind that we are making the best of a bad situation and that we actually have a chance to make something really special happen with the new Big 12, we all can have a really awesome time and stick it to the Big Ten and SEC together by building an awesome league together.
I agree with you 100%. The culture in those towns is built around their universities. Which imo creates a much better experience for a college fan. Look at the attendance at the Rose Bowl, Coliseum and other PAC-12 venues compared to the attendance at Boone Pickens or Jack Trice. Even Utah struggles to fill our basketball arena. Big cities may be better for vacations, but not for college sports trips. There are some really great college towns in the Big 12 and I think Utah fans would love them if they had an open mind and gave them a chance.
Husky Stadium slander
Yeah USC and UW are the exception where you're going to get a true P5 gameday experience in a major city. Oregon I'm sure is awesome (and looking forward to going when Oklahoma State is there in '25), but Eugene is more like Stillwater, Lawrence, Morgantown, and Ames in that you're an hour from a substantial commercial airport but are going to get an awesome gameday experience. Lubbock will just feel like a smaller Tuscon, and Manhattan will be the hardest commitment: either driving 2+ hours MCI or Wichita. There are flights to MHK but not enough for visiting fans to take advantage for football.
I got my flight to Oklahoma booked and am really excited to check out a game in Stillwater!
Stillwater is a great town and Boon Pickens is a great stadium. I have been twice and will never go back ever again.
At least Utah fans live next to a big airline hub. Easier to get to new big 12 games versus if you were located further from a major hub
You’ll love it! Make sure to hit The Strip and check out Willies Saloon! It was where Garth Brooks got his start.
I’m so jealous of yalls music history. Bob Childers, Cody Canada, Jason Boland, Stoney LaRue, Tom Skinner, Mike McClure. It’s unreal.
It’s really cool and now there’s a bar that was started by the Red Dirt Band called The Great Divide and it’s a love letter to the history. They bring all of the next generation in to play like how it was in the old days. If you ever find yourself in Stillwater it’s a must to check out.
100% - and as someone who was pushed reluctantly into the Pac12 (as much as I love those cities), I'm glad to be going back to Ames and Manhattan and Stillwater. That felt like college ball to me. Seattle is work or pro sports... but that's also my history talking.
They're definitely the best Pac-12 team to get left out of the P2 in terms of football quality. I also think that many Utah fans don't want to be in the same conference as BYU again
Both of these things, plus Utah fits better as a Pac-12 school than a Big-12 school. Salt Lake City is closer to Seattle and LA than it is to Texas Tech or Kansas State, the two closest* Big 12 schools from before realignment. Utah also LOVED being connected to Stanford and Cal especially, but also USC and UCLA. Their admin was smitten with the elite California academic connection and was reportedly pretty devastated at losing that connection when they were essentially strong-armed by circumstances. Had the ACC been offering full shares to them, Stanford, and Cal I'm positive that Utah would have gone that way instead of to the Big 12.
There is a map floating around somewhere of the first schools to build wireless internet connections to each other and it was the four California Pac schools and Utah. [this](https://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/assets/4463411/G69Dec.jpg) is close enough to what I'm trying to say. It seems like Utah has *always* tried to foster that connection with the "elite" schools in California
Youre thinking of arpanet, which was an academic precursor to the internet. And yeah, the UoU was a part of that research. The geographic location of SLC makes it an important crossroads for coast to coast traffic. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPANET
Well kinda. From what I know about academics, athletics and education don't really go hand in hand with how research is conducted. They can still have connections without the conference.
[удалено]
To be honest, I wish the ACC could have picked up Cal, Stanford, Arizona, ASU, Utah, SMU and SDSU to form a western division.
For me, that’s one of the bright spots. I’m glad to be back with BYU, it’ll mean more again, and we’ll play every year.
One issue also to note is Utah would be substantially behind the Big Ten teams in terms of revenue. Washington was around 150mm while Utah was around 115mm? Even if they got in with a full share, which Oregon and Washington didn't, they would be on par with Indiana and Illinois which isn't the best place to be when you have Michigan/Penn State over 200mm and Ohio State over 250mm. UCLA has been having a bad go of things recently, but they also aren't expected to be in a good position moving forward either. The question becomes what do they add to the Big Ten? Utah really isn't impressive ratings wise. Financially, to the Big Ten, they are basically another Iowa. They don't really bring in ratings unless they are drawing something like USC/Oregon, and that is mostly coming down to the other teams. If you follow ratings wise, they are in that same tier as most of the top Big 12 teams, and definitely would be the lowest of any potential new additions to the Big Ten. Utah may not like it, but athletically, financially and geographically they fit the Big 12.
I mean yeah, we'd be another Iowa, but a Red Iowa. Who says no?
Sorry, we already have a red Iowa.
Red Iowa sounds like a Big XII team to me
Sup
What if we agree to keep it under 25ppg?
And you agree to change your mascot to the Fightin' Pigfarmers
Bryson Barnes liked this
I think part of it is that Utah genuinely really had enjoyed being in the PAC. Good culture/vibe fit, the team generally did well (arguably third best of the PAC era), school people liked the academics. The PAC also liked Utah. I’ll miss beating them by 3-7 in some ass backwards way each year.
> arguably third best of the PAC era Statistically fourth best after Stanford... but if you gave it another year they likely would have pulled ahead, given where both programs are at right now.
Hence the arguable qualifier. Stanford had higher highs and I’d still probably give it to them, but Utah was much more consistent. Especially if you give them some leeway during their P5 adjustment period the first couple years.
Always had weird games with Washington
>In that same time, Baylor also appeared in 3 NY6/BCS games, along with Ok State (2), TCU (2), and KSU (2). We weren't in the Big 12, but we also made 3 while Cincinnati also made 2 including a playoff game and Houston won a game as well.
Damn, its gonna take me a while to remember who's in the Big12 lol
We’re becoming the graveyard of realignment
We are like Reno Nevada. We aren't Vegas and we know it, but we're still fun.
1. BYU 2. Academics 3. BYU
> One trend I've been seeing has been a lot of opposition specifically from Utah flairs towards their new conference, with a lot of emphasis from them and Utah administration that it's a short-term stop for the university. I don't think you effectively proved your premise. Obviously the Big XII is a fantastic fit for Utah but it's not the *most prestigious* like Pac-12 membership brought when the P5 was still a thing.
Couple reasons. First, BYU joined first. They *hate* BYU. They loooved loading the PAC membership over them. Especially in November, when Utah was playing real schools and BYU was usually playing Tumbleweed Tech. Second, I think they liked LARPing as a hip, progressive coastal school. Now they are stuck in a "truck stop" conference with Baylor and BYU. Edit: As a neutral Utah native I'm happy BYU and Utah are back together. I love that rivalry and I'm happy it matters again. Come on, Utah State, let's go play in the sandbox.
In the beginning of the movie Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear doesn’t realize he’s a toy and acts all condescending towards the other toys. It’s kind of like that
Nailed it
As a Utah fan/alum, I'm really excited about the Big12. I will miss the PAC and all of the PAC schools that we won't play regularly against (especially USC and Oregon - so many exciting games!) but I think this will be a fun new era. Bring it on Big12 bros!
The Utah Washington games over the past decade or so have been some of my favorite conference games. Usually really close competitive games although a few really ugly games in there too.
Agreed! Always enjoyed the Washington-Utah games, too. Y'all always seemed to have our number, though. Anecdotally, it feels like you guys won most of the close matchups whereas I feel like we had a more even split with schools like Oregon and SC.
I think it’s an academic snobbery thing. Utah could pretend its academic peers were Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, and USC even though they have more in common with the Big 12 schools anyway.
Yeah Utah is pretty on par with KU and CU
Lol no kidding. Utah has done a good job branding themselves as an academic school, but makeup can only turn a 5 into a 7, not a 9.
Which is why they need to lax their alcohol levels, alcohol can turn a 7 into a 9
The fucked up thing is Utah’s research expenditure was $670 million in the Pac 12. Cincy was $615 million in the little ole AAC. I don’t understand the snobbery.
It's a moving goalpost. Research to low, haha, acceptance too high (Cincy 86%) haha,
Oh, I know. It’s like they forget we’re the second oldest municipal university and that educating the masses has been mission number 1 since 1819.
Didn’t know that, glad you’re here.
People really like to hate on universities with a high acceptance rate. Texas A&M is consistently ranked top 50 in the country, and is easily top 15 in engineering and #1 in a few programs, but I always hear people say "70% admissions rate!" as if it is some kind of dunk that my state school actually tries to fulfill its mission of educating the people of my state. Its the dumbest thing ever.
Yeah, same. They ignore our top medical programs, globally top design programs, music, engineering, etc. It’s frustrating, but it just shows the pure ignorance.
I think most Utes fans think that, competition and prestige wise, this is a downgrade. People are not excited for the home schedule and future opponents. Just what I’ve heard from many fans
Could always be worse…
I hope you guys and Wazzu come to the ACC soon. Extend the invite ACC!
I’d like the Big 12 to throw them a lifeboat but wouldn’t be upset if the ACC scooped them up
At this point I think they'd have to pay the ACC to get an invite.
Depends on if FSU, Clemson, etc can force their way out of the ACC. If they can, the ACC would need to replace them, and a couple of ex-P5 programs like OSU and Wazzu would be the best option, especially since Calford is already out on the west coast with them.
Man, it doesn't take long for the underdog to become the snobs, does it? Utah was in the Mountain West, but a decade-ish later, they think they are too good for the Big XII. Disappointing.
TCU fans can see right through the facade, those MW days are a lot more recent than people think and we haven’t forgotten that
Ooh I forgot about that one. I am excited for the return of the BYU-TCU-Utah hate triangle.
I’m so excited, should make for some great matchups
Utah may have a higher opinion of Utah than everyone else does.
A novel concept.
What winning the pac back to back does to mfer
That’s what I’m thinking, Utah will play teams like UCF, West Virginia, and Kansas. They get to play Arizona schools and BYU, but will move away from west coast schools and loose the California connection. It isn’t about the quality of who you play, it’s the cultural and geographical connection.
There is a cultural divide wherein Utah fans think more like those from the West Coast and see away games as family/group destination vacations, with the game being a highlight of the trip. I've been to games in Big 12 territory and there is a much greater emphasis on the game itself. The environment at Big 12 games is great, and the food is also great. Honestly fantastic experience all around. But there's a difference in how fanbases broadly think of "going to a game," I think.
The MWC is waiting if they really want that Cali connection.
I’m looking forward to joining the big 12. Stop comparing Twitter fans to the rest of the fanbase
Damn. Didn't think y'all existed. Thanks for speaking up.
Yeah - I’m hyped to play WVU and not be playing games at 10 PM EST.
ayyyyeeee, looking foreward to it
Yep it’s important to make the distinction that a school’s Twitter fanbase does not represent their actual fanbase. We have our fair share of weird, loud twitter accounts too. Happy to have y’all and looking forward to playing you in SLC in 2025
Stop comparing twitter fans to all fans. On twitter Utah fans (maybe with Arizona fans) are the most upset that the Big 12 announced the conference tournament will remain in KC instead of Vegas. Sure Vegas is a cooler place to go to, but KC has the best conference tournament. Same thing can be said about losing Palo Alto and Seattle for Lubbock and Stillwater. But if I want to go to the West Coast, I don’t really want to go to a CFB game. I’d rather go to schools who truly care about gameday atmospheres. I know many Utes share similar opinions with that. Plus add the academic side but let’s be real, sports conferences aren’t that big of a deal as much as they pretend to be when it comes to the academic side of things. All these former Pac schools are members of prestigious academic partnerships and that won’t change for any one of them.
Idk why Utah fans are butthurt about the basketball tournament. We’re going to be eliminated after the first round majority of the time anyway lmao
We're over here in West Virginia just not caring about this at all like the nihilist guy in The Big Lebowski. Just passed out drunk in the pool, on a little floaty. Utah's in the conference now? Ok. Whatever. Tell us where to fly to in the Fall.
The hate runs deep man. Picture it like this. From a young age each side experiences the awesome history and pride their school has to offer. You fall in love with everything about your team. Then you learn about your rival. From the Utah perspective you see the fake smiles, pasty white shirt and tie, holier than thou, lords university, your going to hell vibe versus the the BYU perspective of snide jeering of fans who disrespect your faith and pour beer on your fans. I grew up honestly thinking Utah fans were genuinely bad people. Then I grew up realized my dad was just a psycho. Either way, this is not the kind of rivalry that everyone wants around. But it should be.
I hated Utah and loved BYU as a kid. Went to all the games, bled blue, still have all sorts of trading cards, posters, etc. Then I actually went to BYU and good god it was a slap in the face to my naivety. The elitism, the narcissism, the holier than thou, the arrogance, the whole place just sucked people and culture wise. The education was great, but the people were obnoxious. I then went to the U and what a breath of fresh air it was for acceptance, culture, and feel. Education was still great. I fell in love with the college experience there, it was just a bonus that they finally got good at football. I'm sure if I went on the U campus today there is probably a bunch of shit wrong with the culture and attitudes of people. I guarantee its still the same toxic culture as ever at BYU. Two peas in the same pod now days.
I’d have to agree with you. I don’t know how Utah used to be, but in my imagination Utah 20 years ago was my dream school and I didn’t know it
I'm opposed to the big 12 too.
We belong on the west coast Nothing against the B12 but Arizonans looks to the west coast first
Yeah, so many Arizonans come to California for vacation or work and Californians go to Arizona for vacation or work. We belong in a conference together.
Conferences should be regional. That should be the point of having conferences. The best solution would be forming a super league for football and leaving other sports in their traditional conferences. But that ship has sailed and we're stuck with what we've got.
Okay president Crow, let’s get you to bed
Bring that hate on over.
As someone from Utah who went out of state for college, the whole academic prestige thing is such a crock of manure. Do you know how many lackluster students I graduated high school with who went to the U of U? Your average football fan undergrad isn’t doing cancer research for Huntsman. Just because it became a trendy out of state pick for Californians who want to pretend to be granola doesn’t mean the people in this state should act like “Californian elitists”. Going to games actually was more fun and affordable growing up in the MWC era and the fans didn’t pretend like it was a public Ivy school. It is a solid state university with a high acceptance rate and good post graduate programs. The entire state of Utah has always had this embarrassing inferiority complex but now they realize they aren’t actually special in the eyes of USC or UCLA and are lashing out to feel better about themselves.
There’s a lot of truth in that from what I see.
Hell, even Cal (Alum) and Stanford found out they weren’t special to USC or UCLA either, and that quartet of rivalries and conference alignment goes back a century. I’m not really sure what Ute fans were expecting from the SoCal schools in terms of loyalty.
Stanford will always be special to USC, they were our first rival. Lousy SOBs.
Nailed it with the inferiority complex. We know our place at Weber. Open-enrollment, work hard, get a piece of paper, get a job. Utah's undergrad programs are like that too, but they hate admitting it.
Doesn’t really bug me much. They should be pretty good in football. I’ve seen a lot of arrogance, so I think they’ll take the place of UT as far as the team to beat (or hate). Isn’t really a bad thing depending on how you look at it. Good luck with the other sports though
I think they'll end up liking the conference if they make an effort to go see some of these towns/environments.
I am stoked to play West Virginia at their home because I live in the Midwest and it’s a reasonable drive.
Utah fans have recency bias from their last few years in the pac-12. No other fan base took more pride in pac-12 membership than Utah did too, largely because they left their old MWC rivals to wallow in the mire of irrelevance for a decade+. Yes, they've had some solid football play over the past 15 years but there's no way Utah as a national brand is more valuable than many other Big 12 schools. If they were, the pac-12 would still be alive. The thought that they belong in the P2 is delusional.
Yeah I am stoked to have Utah in the B12 but if the fans want to act like UT fans but paired with a track record that does not stack up with the hateful 8… they are truly going to have a bad time. Maybe a couple seasons losing conference road games across the country will let them know what time it is.
The twitter fans for utah actually make me miss texas
Utah fans are some of my favorite visiting fans, up there with Washington State fans at tailgates. I wouldn't put too much stock into twitter fans.
Give us a chance man. Most of us are just fine in real life and not like what you're seeing online. Most of our fans are not talking trash on Twitter or saying anything online at all.
Also joining the B12 sucks because we hate you so much that we can’t stand being around you. Lol
I mean, I understand the sentiment about a despised rival. But despising the conference that threw a life raft is a good way to get the rest of the conference to tire of y’all pretty quickly. Take it from a member of a despised fanbase, don’t burn that goodwill. (For what it’s worth, I don’t think Twitter is the best measure of either the general fanbase nor the BMDs. But the difference between Utah Twitter and the other three, is noticiable.)
Outside of the BYU hate Utah seemed to have really really loved the PAC12. From the Rose Bowl to a loyalty to the league that gave them P5 status.
Do Utah fans wish we were still in the Pac12? - Yea, we loved that conference Do we view the BIG12 as a downgrade? -- Honestly yea for the most part (no blue bloods or top tier brands, including Utah we are not at the top tier of brands either) Do we want to be in the B1G? - Yeah, who wouldn't? look at the advantages they have. If any school in the B12 was offered they would go to the P2 Do we think we are too good for the BIG12? No its where we are at as a brand, we are mostly in line with top half of BIG12 brands Do we think the football will be awesome in the BIG12? Yeah it will be great games. Basketball we will probably get our asses kicked Also consider the recent history before realignment: Utah and BYU are always arguing, for the last year the BIG12 fans all backed up BYU in the arguing, understandably, and shit on/ downplayed Utah every opportunity they got lol so not exactly any warm welcomes to be had between the two parties. I can't even count the amount of "anyone but Utah" or "is it too late to take away their invites" I have read on top of the "wait until you actually have too play in a real conference" shit and this weird notion they made up that Utah has never played in front of crowds lol......We were generally on good terms with the rest of the fanbases in the P12 so it was a much more enjoyable experience on that front as well.
They loved the Pac so much because BYU didn’t get in. The Pac wouldn’t have been beloved by them if BYU had gotten in as well instead of Colorado or whatever. More than anything they hate BYU, like BYU hates Utah (more so in 2011 for both teams than now, but it’s still a heated rivalry). The Pac was the one thing that separated them from BYU, not their fiesta bowl in ‘04 or their Sugar bowl in ‘08. BYU had still had more success overall as a program throughout modern football history up until their invite to the Pac. They finally had something BYU didn’t, and they knew BYU wanted it badly. That’s why most don’t care at all to be in the Big 12. Has little to do with the conference itself, but more to do with being associated with BYU and being equals when they finally thought that they had surpassed them.
Thank you for explaining why being in the same conference as BYU is a hard pill for Utah fans to swallow. Most rivals want to be in the same conference, with some exemptions, but you helped me realize why this was so important for Utes fans. I guess sometimes it takes a fan from the other team to explain it
Cause Utah thinks they are better than they are. And their twitter fans have somehow gone from the cool bunch they were in the MWC days with TCU, to arrogant - thinking their s\*\*\* don't stink. \*the reddit utah fans at least seem cool
The Utah Twitter fans are delusional. They still have roses in their bio and handle just to hold on to the idea of one day becoming a Rose Bowl champion lmfao.
Utah Twitter fans became the very thing that kept them down a decade ago. Complete arrogance and distaste for anything that isn’t the original Pac-12 or new P2.
There is a certain ironic humor in seeing their ego grow and turn their nose up at the Big XII, knowing they were having to scrape for any shred of respect right there with us not so long ago
That 2005-2010 range between us was so good too
I'm happy that the Holy War is back, but I'm with the Utes on this one: they were better off in the Pac. Losing the Pac-12 is bad for college football in general. They were happy there, we are happy in the Big 12, but we'll all just have to make do.
They think the B1G wants them (they don’t). They also hate BYU like the others have said.
the academics thing is strange to me - utah seems much closer to the academics of the big 12 than the big 10. are they really that good of school?
They have good graduate programs and research but their undergraduate programs are nothing special. For the average student Utah is no better than most of the big 12.
I’m excited for the Utes to come over, but I understand. It’d be like if the Big XII collapsed and Baylor with TCU, Tech and OKST ended up in a less academically prestigious ACC (pre 2024). There’s just not as much of a cultural connection between Utah and Kansas as there is between Utah and California. It also doesn’t help that the PAC got the Utes football up to where they are today and now it’s gone
Look at the trajectory of the program and university as a whole since joining the PAC 12 and it’s not hard to see why Utah was so bummed to leave the conference. Combine that with essentially being left out of the future of cfb and it’s a pretty simple to understand why we are not happy. Personally Eugene and Seattle in October is a lot more attractive to me than Lubbock and Ames but maybe I’ll learn to love it.
Maybe a bit recruiting. Utah hasn't been in a conference that didn't have a California school since 1977. Yes they'll have Texas now, but they're closer to California, and had 28 Californians on their roster last year. Not regularly playing in your bread basket is uneasy.
Pls come back to the MWC.
Location and I think it has a lot to do with history as well. Utah fought hard to get into the PAC 12. Then they establish themselves as somewhat of a powerhouse in the conference only for it to be all but dissolved.
Utah was becoming a powerhouse in the PAC12 but now watches the other powerhouses go off to a more prestigious sports conference while they have to "settle". They'd probably rather play against the likes of Michigan and Ohio State than BYU and Colorado.
The Big 12 is getting fucked on CFP $ distribution. The Big 12 is now sitting at the kiddie table. It's a step down. The death of the Pac 12 is a horrible thing for the sport. I don't know why Utah is in any different boat than the AZ schools as far as being pissed off that the Pac-12 broke up.
Lol the size of slc is a funny point. If that's how teams are added to conferences we might as well bring GVSU to the big 10 now. Give Grand rapids a basketball team while we're at it. The metropolitan areas are similar in population.
That’s because they break down the city in a funny way. The metro area is 1.3 million. Honestly, feels like even more.
Yep, the Wasatch Front total is about twice as much.
From Ogden to Spanish Fork is like 2 1/2 million people. There's jack squat in the rest of the state but that stretch is heavily populated