Utah Utes in Pac-12: Dominant, Average or Doormats?

“He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.”—Harold Wilson

The Pacific Athletic Conference has not seen change since 1978, when Arizona and Arizona State fled from the WAC, turning the Pac-8 into the Pac-10.

Expansion will once again occur with the opening of the 2011 season when the Colorado Buffaloes, from the Big 12 Conference, and the Utah Utes, from the Mountain West Conference, enter the South Division of the new Pac-12 alignment.

Oddly enough, Colorado and Utah have not played one another since 1969.

Under fourth-year head coach Dan Hawkins, Colorado is 16-33, and on September 11th they were thoroughly spanked by California 52-7. Their first season fate in the Pac-12 South Division seems to be clear—in or near the cellar.

What is not so obvious is how the highly-ranked Utah Utes will perform.  

The undefeated, sixth-ranked Utes are an interesting case study on how an anemic team turns into an annual powerhouse.

There are dry seasons, and then there are severe droughts—things dust bowls are made of. Did I mention droughts and bowls? The Utah Utes went on a 28-year bowl hiatus, a span that saw five ineffective coaches: Bill Meek, Tom Lovat, Wayne Howard, Chuck Stobart and Jim Fassel.

After a season that produced a paltry 1-10 record, Coach Lovat lamented, “Last night I sat down and tried to think about all the highlights from last year and I fell asleep.”

The emergence of the Utes from a competitive team to a prohibitive powerhouse is due to three coaches each with ascending degrees of success. It began in 1990 with coach Ron McBride, who compiled a palatable 88-67 record while taking Utah to six bowl games.

It continued in 2003 with coach Urban Meyer, who incorporated the "spread offense," creating a scoring machine. In his second season the Utes averaged 45.33 points per game.

It reached its crescendo in 2008 under present coach Kyle Whittingham, who led Utah to a perfect season, posting a 13-0 record and thrashing a heavily favored Alabama 31-7 in the Sugar Bowl. Hired in 2005, Whittingham has compiled a 133-58 record.

This is absolutely phenomenal. The Utah Utes have won nine straight bowl games, which is the longest active bowl winning streak. Overall they are 12-3, which is the highest percentage in the nation measured against teams with 10 or more bowl appearances.

Since 2003 the Utes are 7-3 against Pac-10 teams: 5-0 at home, 1-3 on the road. Utah has outscored its Pac-10 opponents by a 251-214 margin.

Without a doubt the Utah Utes will be the most intriguing team to watch during the Pac-12's inaugural season. The looming questions are, will they be as dominant in the Pac-12 Conference as they are in the Mountain West, or will the rigors of a tough Pac-12 schedule wear them down through attrition?

At this present time I believe only three Pac-10 teams can defeat the Utah Utes: Oregon, Stanford and Arizona (at home).

Admitting the superiority of the Pac-10 over the Mountain West Conference, Utah athletic director Chris Hill said, “When you compete for championships in the Pac-10, you compete for national championships.”

The Utah Utes basketball team should also prove to be competitive. They are 146-112 all-time against the 11 Pac-12 teams.  

Teams Utah has an advantage on: Arizona (28-21), Arizona State (25-17), Stanford (14-7), Oregon (8-7), Oregon State (12-7) and Washington State (13-2).

Teams Utah has tied: California (8-8) and UCLA (4-4).

Teams Utah has a disadvantage to: Colorado (15-20), USC (14-15) and Washington (5-6).