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Wednesday, July 28, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.
MWC Media Day
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First-year UNLV head football coach Bobby Hauck speaks to the media at Mountain West Conference media day at Red Rock Resort.
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Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham took his seat on the press conference podium Tuesday afternoon at Red Rock Resort during the Mountain West Conference media day, surveyed the room of reporters, paused to gather his thoughts and delivered his opening statement.
“It’s been a quiet, uneventful summer,” Whittingham jokingly said.
If you consider accepting an invitation to one of college football's elite leagues uneventful, then yes, it was a dull summer for the Salt Lake City school.
Utah is leaving the Mountain West for the Pac-10 Conference effective next fall, ditching the mid-major Mountain West for the riches, tradition and better competition of the Pac-10.
Whittingham says his team will do its best staying focused competing one last time against the likes of Colorado State, New Mexico and Wyoming.
However, don’t blame the short-timers for looking ahead to the future — like playing Southern California at the Coliseum in Los Angeles and competing for berth in the Rose Bowl.
Whittingham, who was easily the most sought-after person to be interviewed Tuesday, said all the right things when questioned about the move. His team looks forward to one more go-round in the Mountain West, they have great respect for the league, and they will focus on the Pac-10 after the season.
“We have challenges ahead of us this fall that require all of our attention,” Whittingham said.
I’m just not buying it.
On the inside, he is surely thinking about recruiting a more exciting brand of athlete and having games televised by a respected national network.
Whittingham isn’t the only one toeing the company line when talking about the split. Coaches from the Mountain West’s other schools wouldn’t directly say they are looking forward to taking one last crack at Utah, you know a swift-kick in the rear as a parting gift.
It would have been easy for BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall to openly criticize Utah. After all, the two schools are bitter rivals and it’s no secret that BYU wishes it was headed to the Pac-10 instead.
It would have made for great headlines if Mendenhall ripped Utah. Instead, he went the safe route as he was asked numerous time about the Cougars’ top rival.
“The future will be different than past history,” he said. “It’s not to say that the rivalry will go away, but it will change to some degree.”
While everyone is saying the right things about the divorce between the league and one of its best schools, the truth is losing Utah is a significant blow.
The league is desperately trying to upgrade its image with hopes of eventually earning a guaranteed spot in a lucrative BSC game. That cause, even with nationally respected Boise State set to join the conference next fall, seems hopeless.
With or without Utah, the league will never improve unless its bottom-tier teams — UNLV, that’s you — become respectable. It’s a process that involves a commitment and resources from the university.
The league’s “Big 3” teams of TCU, BYU and Utah (or Boise State) share several similarities — a long-tenured coach, above-average facilities and tremendous financial resources. The league’s bottom teams lack in two or more of those categories.
Utah has had the nation’s longest active win streak in bowl games at nine, including victories in the Fiesta Bowl (2004) and Sugar Bowl (2008). The Utes’ success is a big reason why they are moving to Pac-10 while the Mountain West’s other schools are left biting their tongue in envy.
The envy will likely carry into the fall.
Utah returns four of five offensive linemen starters and two of the league’s top running backs, including Cimarron-Memorial High graduate Eddie Wide of Las Vegas. They were picked No. 2 behind TCU in the league’s preseason media poll.
Hosting Pittsburgh to open the season and a road contest at Notre Dame highlights the Utes’ schedule. And, there’s that final league game against rival BYU.
In borrowing a word from Whittingham, it has all the makings of an “uneventful” farewell.
Good riddance!
Sick of playing the Utes in both football and basketball.
Boise State is a much more interesting opponent.
Would like to see Utah dominate the PAC 10 though, then get smoked in a BCS bowl every year by the MWC champs.
That would give the BCS even less credibility that is has already.
Boise State is a more "interesting" opponent in football and thats about it. Because football is the "biggest" college sport, losing Utah and gaining BSU doesn't hurt as much as it should. Every other sport either isn't played by BSU or they are awful (Men's basketball).
I can't fault Utah for leaving for more money, more exposure and more respect in the Pac-12, but lets not act like this isn't a major blow to the conference.
Utah will thrive in the Pac-10. Football, basketball & women's gymnastics are their strongest sports. Boise State will be outstanding in the MWC in football, but they will have to improve in their other sports.
Basketball is historically a strong sport for Utah. Currently, not so much.
UNLV beat the Utes about 28-0 three years ago. That's all I care about. :)
Utah and their fan base are overrated! And as for the author of this piece, (Brewer) you and the sad majority that think like you with your negative and somewhat irresposible comment about being a bottom tier team in the MWC are the main reasons why we can't get more people off the fence and on the ground at Sam Boyd to support the Rebels. Finishing 5-7 for two years in a row in one of the toughest conferences in D-1a football is not too shabby. In fact, UNLV will beat many teams in other conferences that are in their conference bottom tier. (i.e Washington State, Baylor, Utah State, and many others). Stop disparaging the efforts of the Rebels and start promoting them!! Despite you, the Rebels will play hard this season and finish in the middle of the pack. By the way, it's BCS not BSC genius!
Get lost Utah! Let's send them off with a huge Rebel upset!
Any UNLV fan who thinks losing Utah in the MWC is a positive, is pretty much an idiot.
Love them or hate them, they were one of the top programs in the conference, and replacing them with BSU is at best a wash (and that's only if you ignore all sports other than football).
Ray you are way off based that Utah is looking forward to the Pac-10 and not this MWC season, trust me. Ever since that 28-0 beat down to UNLV the Utes have been focused. Utah and Whittingham are not looking ahead and will do what they normally do in the MWC which for me hopefully is another 9 or 10 win season. The only difference is that teams will be looking to beat the Utes on their way out.
It definitely was a blow to the conference. Had the MWC kept Utah, and brought on Boise, that would have been great to beef up the conference, even possibly for a BCS bid.
The reorganizing of conferences isn't done yet I dont think though. Next summer, or the one after that, we'll see this happening again.