Bringing it back to what really matters...

Utes to the PAC-12!!!!!!!

Oh Happy Day!! The Utes have been invited to join the PAC-1o conference. Apparently the invite came today and the U's Board of Regents are meeting tomorrow with a press conference to follow. It is expected that the University will approve and hopefully in 2011 our boys will start conference play. I am very excited and this is the perfect scenario for the Utes. (I wasn't very keen on the Pac-16.)

Despite my excitement, I am a little sad too. I have grown accustomed to playing MWC teams and will very much miss playing Wyoming, Colorado State, Air Force and New Mexico regularly. I expect that we will continue to play BYU every year. We better. That game will always mean a lot and it better not go away.

The only way this whole thing would be better is if the Y were invited to the Big-12. But it doesn't look like they have any intention of expanding back to 12. Too bad.

Congrats to the Utes!

Red Rover Red Rover Let Boise State Come Over!

OK so Boise State hasn't been formally invited yet BUT, expect it to happen when the Mountain West Conference Presidents meet In Jackson Hole, WY June 6-8. I think if everything were status quo they would still be getting the invite but I think there is urgency for this to happen as a few of the "power" conferences are considering pillaging the MWC. Whether or not the inclusion of BSU would prevent any MWC teams from going to the Big12 or Pac-10 I can't say. But I will say that I would be very excited for a conference that has BYU, TCU, BSU, and even Utah. That is a strong conference. All 4 teams have been in the polls each of the last 4 years and they all finished in the top 25 last year. AND the MWC will be allowed to count BSU's record for the last few years in the formula that would give the MWC an auto bid.

Anyway, I'm not just being optimistic. Here is an article talking about current relations between the MWC and the Idaho press. Apparently not only has the MWC been doing their darnedest to sell the MWC television deal, but they have coordinated with the Idaho press to be able to cover the MWC Presidents Conference coming up next week. So I would say it's a done deal.

I would love to see BYU go to the Big 12 but I would actually prefer this scenario. PAC-10 and Big-12 don't expand and get permission to host a championship game and the MWC picks up BSU (with 10 teams we could ALSO host a championship game). Either way, keep your eyes and ears open starting next weekend. That's when the shakin' and bakin' is gonna begin!

Is Utah Already in the PAC-10?

First, sorry it has been so long since my last post, I have been crazy busy and it's not football season. But I will try to post more often. Anyway, on to the topic.

So this past week or so has been crazy on the internet regarding possible PAC-10 expansion. The PAC-10 commissioner said that they are beginning to look into the possibility of expansion and that if they were to do it, now would be the right time considering their current TV deal is expiring.

The rampant speculation is that the most likely candidates are Utah and Colorado, though undoubtedly the PAC-10 really wants Texas, but that ain't happenin'. Anyway, if the invite came for Utah they would almost definitely accept. However, we are not sure about Colorado. Though I think they would do it. They fit better in the PAC-10 than they do the Big-12. I certainly think that CU is the deal breaker. If they don't accept, they don't invite Utah.

There has been some talk about BYU going to the PAC-10. While I think they should and it would be awesome to have Utah and BYU in the PAC-10. I don't think there is any chance BYU gets a fair shake from the PAC-10. Not a chance that the liberal bastions of Cal and Stanford will accept conservative and anti-prop 8 BYU in their conference. The PAC-10 will try and say the Sunday rule was the reason but that is BS.

Anyway, back to Utah. There is a ton of speculation on going about this potential opportunity and where there is smoke there is fire. There is even RUMINT that Utah has already received the invite and signed the paperwork, but that it won't be announced for another 6-8 weeks. This according to random rumor on Utefans.net. Admittedly, I put little to no stock in the rumor, but it is interesting none the less.

What is certain is that the PAC-10 can't sit by and do nothing. I almost guarantee the Big-10 will go to 12 if not 14 teams. The Big-12 will have to fill those gaps and may also go to 14 if the Big-10 does. This would leave the PAC-10 in a severe monetary and national perception disadvantage.

All of this expansion talk is getting a head of steam and it could completely change the entire atmosphere of College Football. With all the talk of both the Big-10 and Pac-10 targeting the Big-12, we can be sure that the Big-12 will not stand by and do nothing. There is even talk of a super conference of Western Powers so to speak. Though this is also purely rumor. As all this talk has gotten bigger and bigger, I think we may end up with a Pac-12 with Utah and Colorado, a Big-12 with 14 teams, and a Big-10 with 14 teams. I also think Arkansas may be one of those teams in the new Big-12 which would force the SEC to find a replacement as well.

What this all adds up to, even if each conference only ends up with 12 teams, is a great chance that in the end both Utah and BYU win. Utah in the Pac-12 and BYU in the Big-12. Though I think the former is far more likely. Nevertheless, BYU is likely to be the Big-12's 2nd pick among realistic options (unrealistic being their possible targeting of USC) just behind Arkansas. I certainly think that BYU (and probably Colorado State and New Mexico) would be ahead of TCU just purely due to location.

Personally, I am torn about how I feel about Utah leaving the MWC. I think if they stuck with the conference and it became a BCS conference, they could be a perennial National Championship contender because they would be among the class of the conference. In the PAC-10 I worry that they would fall to the middle. On the other hand, the PAC-10 is a BCS conference now, they have much more enticing teams to play, and it would strengthen recruiting. I also am very concerned about how it would affect the rivalry with BYU. That better never end (and there are some idiotic Ute fans who couldn't care less if we stop playing BYU).

Haws and Gang

Kehl in Yellow, Bronco in Red, Jake Heaps in Blue?

Is There Something I Should Know About this Ship?

What is going on? Why did Utah's recruiting go from 64 to 70? Oh yeah! They had 7 decommits lately!

Muniz
Huff
Anderson
Lazard
Jackson
Culler
Walker

And now I hear Reese is having cold feet too.
I hope for Utah's sake you are able to hang on to Kruger or you'll drop to upper 70s. Although I think his mother has already decided for him so shouldn't be too much to worry about.

Where is Steve?

I understand that Utah's Basketball team sucks and that your recruiting is so embarrassing that you removed your recruiting widget (don't worry, I put it back!), but there are still things to blog about! For example, will Utah hold on to commit Kruger despite rumblings that he might be reconsidering BYU? Will Heimuli pick Utah over UCLA and BYU? What happened with coach Whittingham and Tennessee? Will Utah win half of its basketball games this year? BTW for recruiting you are out-performing TCU and BSU. That's gotta make you smile! Come back Steve. We miss you!