In-State Rivalries under Further Siege; Utah State vs. BYU & Utah

Conference movements and realignments are nothing new to the region that makes up the Mountain Time Zone of the United States.  The Mountain West Conference (MWC) is merely the fourth rendition of an NCAA division 1 athletic league to geographically position itself in this region over the past century, and the state of Utah has been in the crosshairs of such movements in the past, and no doubt will in the future as the landscape of college sports ever evolves.

For the first two league alignments beginning in 1910 with the Rocky Mountain Conference, Utah, Utah State and BYU all played a role as in state conference aligned rivals from that point and all three stayed together in 1938 when the largest schools in the RMC broke away to form the Mountain States or Skyline Conference.  But in 1961 Utah and BYU along with Wyoming and New Mexico got together with fast growing Border Conference rivals Arizona and Arizona State to form the Western Athletic Conference, and the Aggies were left out of the common league alignment they had been a part of for half a century.  None the less as an independent until 1978 when they joined the PCAA (eventually the Big West), Utah State continued to enjoy an association where they played annually home and home rivalry games with both BYU and Utah.

By the early 1980s that relationship began to change as attendance levels for the school in Logan began to dwindle and the expansion of what was then known as Cougar Stadium (now LaVell Edwards) to 65,000 seats began to shift the relationship with BYU from a business perspective in particular.  While Utah still traded home dates with Utah State through 2009 on a consistent basis, BYU on the other hand began to insist on more dates in Provo for any year played in Logan.  Also this came with a decline in success for the Aggies as they only fared with 2 winning records (1993 & 1997) and a succession of coaching changes.  Subsequently BYU and Utah State began to mutually agree not to schedule one another, first in 1995, but then again in 1998 and from 2003-2005 and 2007.  For the first time in decades in 2009 Utah requested a 2 year hiatus in the series (2010 & 2011) in order to get a date with Notre Dame. 

Utah State’s record over a 3 decade stretch against these two in-state rivals is also an abysmal  6-48 (1980-2009), making it hardly a rivalry.  So why should Utah State continue to play these two “more than likely losses” every year?  This has been what many have suggested.  With Utah’s move to the PAC-10 coming in 2011 and BYU a strong remaining candidate to move to the Big 12 or successor BCS league in that geographical sector of the country, perhaps the time has come to just merely trade off playing BYU and Utah in LaVell Edwards Stadium and Rice Eccles Stadium each year.  What concession do both BYU and Utah give to Utah State in return?  Perhaps a sizable “body/punching bag” game fee would be good for starters since this would merely involve a bus trip and not add the expenses of chartering an aircraft, arranging for hotels and meals as a typical such game to a PAC-10, Big 12, SEC or ACC big name opponent presently is the case for the Aggies.  For a program that requires the level of institutional support that the Aggies need, financially this is a winner for Utah State.

Sometimes the business end of college sports dictates that traditions be changed entirely, and the willingness of BYU to play Utah State in Logan has diminished substantially over the last 3 decades and without doubt Utah will be less willing to travel to Logan with Rice Eccles Stadium likely to be expanded to as much as 65,000 in the next few years, although Utah AD Chris Hill has not spoken on this matter as of yet.  BYU AD Tom Holmoe has indicated BYU has a strong desire to continue its series with Utah State, and the Aggies are under contract to visit Provo in 2011 and 2012, and the Cougars appearance in Logan on the evening of October 1 could be the last Utah State sees of their long stadning in-state rivals at home in Romney Stadium for the foreseeable future. 

Will either series continue?  Or are Weber State and Southern Utah more viable future regular in-state options for Utah State on an annual basis?  The contracts likely to come up or be discarded over the next year or two will certainly be different from what many have come to be familiar with to say the least.  The Salt Lake City/Provo only options on alternating years appears to be the only real option for Utah State AD Scott Barnes to continue either series in this changing landscape.