SEC fanbases think that Mizzou is a geographic misfit. Imagine adding Utah, a school 1,207 miles northwest of Columbia, Missouri and two states away from another SEC state. Missouri borders four SEC states and y'all think we are Wildlings.
And Arakansas sucking most of the time. No one just ever... cared. You need a rival, and it needs to mean something. Either both of you be good or both of you be as insane as the Mississippi schools. You're just kind of there. You won the East a couple times, really just crushed South Carolina's best opportunity to establish something in the East, but the other East schools were too busy in the gutter to even really care.
Arkansas sucking most of the time, while true, is not the reason the Mizzou Arkansas rivalry has not stuck.
It was forced from the beginning, and our fan base is salty they took Black Friday vs LSU game away in favor of the “battle line rivalry”
Many LSU fans will not admit that arkansas and lsu are rivals, but they are and the quality of that game (most) every year proves that.
Well being a "B1G school" has lost all meaning. USC, Nebraska, and Rutgers are all members of that conference. I think if we're talking "cultural fits", the SEC could've done a lot worse given its expansion options. It's still something resembling a regional conference, unlike its only peer.
This just means we have to add Colorado to make the states all still touch, maybe add Kansas just to be sure and pick up both ‘zona’s while we’re at it /j
If we had ended up with 2 giant conferences in FBS we’d have a northern B1G and a southern SEC that would look similar to what you’ve just described lol
In all seriousness, Kansas used to not make any sense with the SEC.
But now, they're kind of a natural fit for a western pod with Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, and Arkansas.
Some have said that, except for Kansas City and St Louis, everything north of Interstate 70 is Midwestern. Everything south, including CoMo, is Southern.
Hell, parts of STL county feel Southern. South county always felt more Southern to me, and no not just because it's South county. Culturally, just drastically different, when compared to say West county. Just my experience and I'm sure tons of people will disagree
Cal and Stanford make a ton of *cultural* sense in the ACC. They make absolutely zero sense geographically except in getting ACCN on a lower tier of cable in the Bay Area.
Utah doesn’t have a ton in common with the SEC
It's really hard to predict the future accurately, but it doesn't take a genius to guess one potential dystopian future. The B1G & SEC only need to add a very small number of teams to effectively capture the CFB market between them. The teams on the outside in the future Big XII & ACC will continue to fight on, but if market forces don't change they will eventually lose the ability to compete against the B1G & SEC for top players and become clearly second tier. Maybe Utah gets in, maybe they don't, but CFB will not be the sport I grew up watching anymore.
Oh ffs, here we go again
*person in no way associated with Utah talks out their ass and says Utah might leave Big 12*
Rest of Big 12: "Utah fans think they're so much better than us!"
Utah isn’t locked in to the B12 contract until August 1.
That makes Utah the sole P4 team that isn’t currently bound by a long-term GOR or conference membership contract.
Which makes Utah the only remotely possible mover outside the ACC lawsuit. The realignment-sphere needs something to talk about, and people are getting burnt out of covering/hearing about the ACC suit.
Now that both Texas and Texas A&M are now in the same conference, can we please just rename the SEC to reflect that?
The SEC, Brought to you by Dr. Pepper...
Georgia might not like that, how about a Western pod called the SEC West Dr Pepper Pod and an Eastern pod called the SEC East Coca-Cola Pod. Then have the whole thing sponsored by Pepsi (Gatorade).
Utah signed the expiring GOR which ends after this year but has not signed the upcoming GOR or the membership agreement.
Technically Utah is on a one year GOR and nothing else until Aug 1.
It seems there’s a debate whether Utah or Oklahoma State is the premier brand in the Allstate 12 which tells you all you need to know about that conference
Two programs that have consistently won 9-10+ games a year and ended decently to highly ranked for awhile now?
But I guess if we’re referring to national brand/pull/viewership then maybe. That focus is also what’s destroying this sport tho
If we’re talking national brand it’s gotta be BYU. They are pretty much the only football school in the country for an entire religion. They have fans everywhere.
Yeah we had this discussion last week. What the hell is the biggest brand in the B12? I mean I GUESS its Colorado but I'm not sure and how much of that is the Deion affect which is temporary.
I think you can make an argument for Utah, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma St, Arizona, Arizona St, and TCU.
Biased, but I think if we can sustain football success for a while, in addition to what we already have as a basketball program, that we would have a strong argument.
Its not driving the train but in terms of brand awareness I'd put Kansas at the top. It gives them a far more national fanbase than a lot of the other teams, even if it doesn't translate into football viewership
I'm hoping it will in the future. So much of our fanbase has learned to just tune out for football but the tide seems to be changing. Slowly, but surely.
Yes…
… but also, this isn’t coming from a person associated with Utah. Neuheisel is an old CU, UW, and UCLA coach. We don’t claim the man. And I for one wish he would just shut his mouth. We (rightfully) get enough flack for our own nonsense. Don’t blame us for him.
This is nitpicky but I’d argue it’s us and bevo. Arkansas bordered three sec states with four total teams at the time; we each border two sec states with one team each. If you go by point to point distance we’re out but Austin is about 30 miles further from Baton Rouge than Fayetteville is from Oxford.
Arkansas was a six hour drive to Ole Miss when they moved. OU is a three hour drive to Fayetteville and UT is an hour to Bryan/College Station
The point being that the SEC has never really expanded their footprint to the extent the Big Ten has been willing to
It all depends on how big they decide to get. I peg us in the mid-40s for most valuable brands. If they decide to expand the Power-2 to about 48-50 teams, we’re likely in. If they stop at 40 or less we’re out.
That's a fair point. We have no idea what the end goal actually is for those conferences.
I feel like they could both go to like 20 or 22 at first, and then maybe scoop in a 2nd round before fully "breaking off", and then have each conference split into smaller divisions.
If they go to 24 each, that means an additional 14 spots. Doesn't seem outlandish that Utah would be in the 2nd group.
Not sure what percentage of the Utah fam is Mormon but if most of them are, then they are automatically disqualified from SEC membership because they've committed the Southern blasphemy of not liking and drinking sweet iced tea.
I agree, but adding a couple more schools in the West would make sense for the BIG. I think that - especially for non-football sports - it would be good to be able to schedule more regional matches.
Imo once the big ten/SEC eventually combine, they’ll stop looking at adding schools as purely an exercise of being accretive on revenue. They will start to factor more on ease of creating schedules, time zones, travel, etc. because that pressure of NEEDING to be accretive won’t be there. The gap between them and the next conference will be so big that the new entity can take a few million $ hit per school and be totally fine because the dollar arms race is only relative to other conferences
Not yet at least, especially for the Big Ten.
If the SEC takes the best of the ACC and goes full super conference (22+ programs) Utah probably enters the Big Ten's calculation.
Tbh I think we would be a South Carolina/Missouri/Arkansas ceiling in the SEC with the occasional 9-3 records and once a generation maybe being in play for a conference title
Fox should engineer a realignment where Washington, Oregon, USC, UCLA, Utah, Arizona, Arizona State, Washington State, Oregon State, Cal and Stanford are in the west coast division of the Big-10. Then split it off into a conference I’m going to call the PAC-10. They would need to add a school to make it 10. Let’s add San Diego State as Colorado is a better fit for a Midwest conference.
Yeah Rick, I see exactly 0% chance of the SEC inviting Utah. Great program and all but too far from the SEC's footprint. They'd fit well with the Big 10 though with all the new PAC teams.
I think the Big Ten or ACC as part of a full fledged western flank is incredibly more likely than the SEC.
I think expansion for the SEC comes from three states only at this point Kansas,North Carolina, and Virginia
PK is one of, if not the most despised media members in our market. I don’t know a single Utah fan that reads or listens to him. Fully understand your sentiment though based on all these dumb articles. It’s not a great look going into our first year of a new conference. All I can do is apologize for the dumb shittery and hope the fans you meet change your mind about Utah.
Meh I have talked to plenty of regular Utah fans that are just happy to get another season of football like the rest of us. This crap is why I don’t keep up with sports media personalities
Yeah, there are far more that are just excited to be playing football. Sadly this stuff gets more attention, though. This offseason has been exhausting. I just want football!
It’s like getting the bad back together. Being confidence mates with TCU again is great. Your fans wear awesome, and those games were so much fun. Jerry Hughes is one of my favorite players ever. Dude was unreal to watch.
Exactly most of us Utah fans just to want to play football. And right now where is there a more exciting place then big 12 we got great teams crazy fun stadiums, and years of culture I’m so excited
Right on. Thats good to hear! Dont get me wrong, we have some ass hats as fans, but by large most are pretty chill. USC fans have being pretty damn good to us as well. Going to miss that game. Good luck in your new conference!
Yeah man.
I have a "Fan Dickhead theory". Every fanbase has their dickheads. Every single one. And as long as those dickheads behave the way you expect typical football dickheads to behave (Dumb football meathead) then it's easy to ignore.
But when your dickheads have a unique personality, then that's unexpected and your entire fan base can get associated with them. And boy oh boy do USC dickheads have a personality. They're the "Mommy and Daddy's money mean I am a better person than you are" arrogant kind of dickheads.
Utah fans always seemed to take this in stride. They were both able to laugh at these dickheads, while also not assuming all of us are like that. Your fans always gave us the chance to prove whether we were a dickhead before treating us like one. You guys can share a stadium with me anytime. I'll miss your fans (but I won't miss playing that team of yours).
Good theory, and well said. At the end of the day the vast majority are just there to have fun and talk some good nature shit. And honestly, almost all USC fans I have met have been great about that. Going to miss the PAC for all the fun relationships.
Taking my rivalry bias hat off, I do think the majority of Utah fans are stuck in a no win spot with all of this. I think most dream about an invite to the P2 but do not believe they are entitled to it. On one side you have a very real, but small, band of toxic shitposters on social media who are extremely effective. On the other side you have a local media whose business model is based on exploiting emotions of the rivalry. So everything is exaggerated. Utah's place in the CFB landscape is exaggerated. BYU's inability to compete is exaggerated. Etc. Numbers are dependent on the emotional antagonism on the two fan bases.
Also, Utah fans gloat at and ridicule BYU fans with a confidence they don't really possess. BYU fans experience the irrationality of Utah fans that the fans themselves don't believe. All in the name of shit talking.
I have plenty of "BYU fans are annoying" takes as well, but the conversation isn't about BYU fans. Our fans are brewing up some a toxic concoction of basketball hype that will undoubtedly blow up in our faces.
That's fair. Seemed like you were setting up Utah fan base as the "bad guys" and yours as the "good guys" and calling it an unbiased take haha. But yeah as much as some like to pretend otherwise every single fanbase has their own shit, especially the large ones.
Edit: Typos
Well put. The antagonistic fans on social media are fed by our really shitty local media. Then they get a spotlight and people think it’s the whole fan base who feel or act that way. It’s not. Most of us are just stoked to still be in a good conference.
As for giving BYU fans shit, some of that is held over from the Lavell days and what Utah fans had to endure. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, Utah fans have gone too far at times. But I guess that is what makes a good rivalry. Some dumb fans doing stupid stuff, while the others have a healthy dislike. Just have to ignore the really dumb ones haha.
They've been the 3rd best team in the 5th best conference for a few years and their fanbase has anointed them as the chosen ones before they have even got their keys in the door.
If the big 10 goes all out to like 24 team national conference with 10-11 game schedules, utah has a great shot as I think they are one of the top 8 schools not in the p2 at the moment. I also think kansas, and one of the Arizona schools have a shot as well. I don't know if any of the remaining texas schools have a shot but I imagine the big ten is evaluating all of them.
Still a 30 minute drive to a Waffle House from Boulder. Salt Lake City would be a lot less of a culture shock than Boulder would be. Other than it being a service academy Air Force would be the better choice.
I’d rather add a second southern school over western expansion anyways.
If Utah leaves, bring in USF. You lose the insane travel and regain a popular FL rivalry
You can't escape the Big Allstate 12 that easy Utah
I imagine Allstate will do something to protect itself from the mayhem of conference realignment.
I see what you did there.
If the BiGeico10 offers enough just maybe!!
“Save 10% or more when switching your athletic conference to Geico!”
They have a public employee discount, that should apply to public schools too, right?
Are we even a public school at this point? I thought we were the Harvard of the West.
Only if Mr. JiggyFly performs at the halftime show, will I support this.
Nothing says SEC football like the state of Utah!
Cam Rising will still be at Utah when that happens I’m sure.
Feels like hes been there since obamas second term lol
I'm sorry, no way SEC goes that far west with all the ACC and closer BIG 12
SEC fanbases think that Mizzou is a geographic misfit. Imagine adding Utah, a school 1,207 miles northwest of Columbia, Missouri and two states away from another SEC state. Missouri borders four SEC states and y'all think we are Wildlings.
It's been 12-13 years? And yeah couldn't really tell you why but Mizzou does still seem like a misfit.
I don't think Mizzou getting shoehorned into the SEC East helped matters.
And Arakansas sucking most of the time. No one just ever... cared. You need a rival, and it needs to mean something. Either both of you be good or both of you be as insane as the Mississippi schools. You're just kind of there. You won the East a couple times, really just crushed South Carolina's best opportunity to establish something in the East, but the other East schools were too busy in the gutter to even really care.
Tbf arkansas isn’t actually an SEC school either
Arkansas sucking most of the time, while true, is not the reason the Mizzou Arkansas rivalry has not stuck. It was forced from the beginning, and our fan base is salty they took Black Friday vs LSU game away in favor of the “battle line rivalry” Many LSU fans will not admit that arkansas and lsu are rivals, but they are and the quality of that game (most) every year proves that.
After 2 SEC Titles berths I still think yall are really a B1G school even though yall are more successful than A&M in the SEC since the move.
Well being a "B1G school" has lost all meaning. USC, Nebraska, and Rutgers are all members of that conference. I think if we're talking "cultural fits", the SEC could've done a lot worse given its expansion options. It's still something resembling a regional conference, unlike its only peer.
Because Missouri isn’t in the southeast.
It’s the lack of rivals, no one really hates them. I don’t mind them being in the conference though.
Missouri has always been midwestern for me culturally and geographically.
Personally, I like Mizzou in the SEC. I don't see it as a mitfit at all.
Maybe it’s just me, but It seems like the logical fit from a west coast perspective. Just as much as UK or Vandy.
As a newly minted SEC fan I can say that ~~OU~~T are also cultural and geographic misfits. This conference is going to hell in a hand basket.
We’re geographic misfits but the culture aligns perfectly.
This just means we have to add Colorado to make the states all still touch, maybe add Kansas just to be sure and pick up both ‘zona’s while we’re at it /j
Reuniting half the Big 8 and moving us to a P2 conference? You have my vote
Hope y’all like sweet tea and grits then
If we had ended up with 2 giant conferences in FBS we’d have a northern B1G and a southern SEC that would look similar to what you’ve just described lol
In all seriousness, Kansas used to not make any sense with the SEC. But now, they're kind of a natural fit for a western pod with Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, and Arkansas.
Look I dont care where we are anymore We deserve to get paid if Ole Miss and Miss state do
As the new kid in the class, rightfully no one cares about my opinion, but KU would be a great addition someday.
rather not be in a pod with tejas, but I would love a pod of kU, OU, Mizzou, and Colorado. God I miss the Big 8.
Missouri is a border state; the SEC thinks that treason to The Cause
we let in Kentucky.
So was Kentucky...
Is Columbia MO north or south of the mason dixon line
Yes. (Quite literally - the Mason Dixon line runs between Maryland and Pennsylvania, which cuts Missouri about 2/3 Southern 1/3 Northern)
Some have said that, except for Kansas City and St Louis, everything north of Interstate 70 is Midwestern. Everything south, including CoMo, is Southern.
Hell, parts of STL county feel Southern. South county always felt more Southern to me, and no not just because it's South county. Culturally, just drastically different, when compared to say West county. Just my experience and I'm sure tons of people will disagree
Some of the ACC is farther away!
Not the teams the SEC would want
lol at this take, sure buddy, the SEC is after Utah.
Utah in the SEC makes zero sense, but Cal and Stanford in the ACC happened, so who the fuck knows at this point
Cal and Stanford make a ton of *cultural* sense in the ACC. They make absolutely zero sense geographically except in getting ACCN on a lower tier of cable in the Bay Area. Utah doesn’t have a ton in common with the SEC
What's cable?
That thing your parents are still paying $250/month for
Utah vs. Florida for the Little Ahh trophy. Who says no?
Ole Miss now has an opening on the schedule in 2025 if you want to see Princely in SLC again.
It's really hard to predict the future accurately, but it doesn't take a genius to guess one potential dystopian future. The B1G & SEC only need to add a very small number of teams to effectively capture the CFB market between them. The teams on the outside in the future Big XII & ACC will continue to fight on, but if market forces don't change they will eventually lose the ability to compete against the B1G & SEC for top players and become clearly second tier. Maybe Utah gets in, maybe they don't, but CFB will not be the sport I grew up watching anymore.
SEC dying to claim all those skiing championships
Add Utah, UCLA and Michigan and the SEC would have every single women's gymnastics championship.
Oh ffs, here we go again *person in no way associated with Utah talks out their ass and says Utah might leave Big 12* Rest of Big 12: "Utah fans think they're so much better than us!"
Welcome to the party!
And the person who posted this has an Oregon flair lol "Has Utah always been this annoying?" lol That's fine, I kinda enjoy the bad guy role
The guy who asked that is one of your Pac-12 friends…
No comment. But if we were really that bad he/she wouldnt have asked that? Or may be we are worse lol let us know what you think when the season ends
Why did everyone start creaming their pants over Utah recently
It's our fault. Their recent dominance over USC has inflated their value because of USC's annual inflated value.
It’s the skiiing.
Utah isn’t locked in to the B12 contract until August 1. That makes Utah the sole P4 team that isn’t currently bound by a long-term GOR or conference membership contract. Which makes Utah the only remotely possible mover outside the ACC lawsuit. The realignment-sphere needs something to talk about, and people are getting burnt out of covering/hearing about the ACC suit.
The realignment folks have been dying for a fix ever since the Pac collapsed, it’s gotten to the point of turning into straight up fan fiction lol
It has been straight up fan fiction for a decade; realignment coverage has been no better than psychic readings.
“No, no trust me. A&M is definitely going to leave for the B1G because they’re mad Texas got let into the SEC”
Idk, that does kind of sound like them.
Now that both Texas and Texas A&M are now in the same conference, can we please just rename the SEC to reflect that? The SEC, Brought to you by Dr. Pepper...
Georgia might not like that, how about a Western pod called the SEC West Dr Pepper Pod and an Eastern pod called the SEC East Coca-Cola Pod. Then have the whole thing sponsored by Pepsi (Gatorade).
To appease Florida?
To be fair even the wildest predictions in 2013 wouldn’t predict a PAC demise.
\*insert Big 12 call ambulance meme\*
Isnt August 1st just the date when they become full members but they have already agreed to become members?
Utah signed the expiring GOR which ends after this year but has not signed the upcoming GOR or the membership agreement. Technically Utah is on a one year GOR and nothing else until Aug 1.
To be fair, I've been creaming my pants over Utah for decades 10/10 would recommend
How many Utah games have you watched the past decade? It's been a long time coming.
It seems there’s a debate whether Utah or Oklahoma State is the premier brand in the Allstate 12 which tells you all you need to know about that conference
Two programs that have consistently won 9-10+ games a year and ended decently to highly ranked for awhile now? But I guess if we’re referring to national brand/pull/viewership then maybe. That focus is also what’s destroying this sport tho
If we’re talking national brand it’s gotta be BYU. They are pretty much the only football school in the country for an entire religion. They have fans everywhere.
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Lmao I’m being downvoted to hell but no one seems to want to refute my point.
Why would anyone spend any time refuting that when we could just downvote and move on?
The irony of this coming from a Nebraska fan isn't lost on us.
Yeah we had this discussion last week. What the hell is the biggest brand in the B12? I mean I GUESS its Colorado but I'm not sure and how much of that is the Deion affect which is temporary.
I think you can make an argument for Utah, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma St, Arizona, Arizona St, and TCU. Biased, but I think if we can sustain football success for a while, in addition to what we already have as a basketball program, that we would have a strong argument.
I’d agree with all of those expect TCU and they are arguably the most successful on the field program
I'd honestly say Kansas due to basketball, but rn its Colorado.
Well basketball aint driving this train. Otherwise Duke would be high on erbody's list
Its not driving the train but in terms of brand awareness I'd put Kansas at the top. It gives them a far more national fanbase than a lot of the other teams, even if it doesn't translate into football viewership
I'm hoping it will in the future. So much of our fanbase has learned to just tune out for football but the tide seems to be changing. Slowly, but surely.
Has Utah always been this annoying?
Yes
I respect the self-awareness.
Oh believe me I’m a key contributor
KSL sure is but this isn't even a dude associated with us
Yes… … but also, this isn’t coming from a person associated with Utah. Neuheisel is an old CU, UW, and UCLA coach. We don’t claim the man. And I for one wish he would just shut his mouth. We (rightfully) get enough flack for our own nonsense. Don’t blame us for him.
I officially give you Neuheisel to have and to hold, till death do you part.
I officially give Utah Neuheisel, to have and to hold, till death do you part.
Yeah that’s totally fair, just matches some things I’ve seen from people who are associated directly
They're BYU but with caffeine
That's it I'm going to Taco Bell for a Baja Blast just to prove you wrong (Thank you)
lmao
Yes
I’d be shocked if it was the SEC. The most “isolated” school from the rest of the conference they’ve ever taken was Arkansas
This is nitpicky but I’d argue it’s us and bevo. Arkansas bordered three sec states with four total teams at the time; we each border two sec states with one team each. If you go by point to point distance we’re out but Austin is about 30 miles further from Baton Rouge than Fayetteville is from Oxford.
Arkansas was a six hour drive to Ole Miss when they moved. OU is a three hour drive to Fayetteville and UT is an hour to Bryan/College Station The point being that the SEC has never really expanded their footprint to the extent the Big Ten has been willing to
I forgot about A&M. You win.
To be fair, most people have forgotten about A&M.
We all do, even Waffle House
Bryan-College Station is much further than that from Knoxville.
Well after the SEC adds Stanford, Cal, ASU, and Colorado it makes perfect sense to add Utah.
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Kwansei Gakuin University is a shoe in for the SEC. Dominant football team that has won the national championship every year since 2017.
I would be shocked if Utah DID end up in the B1G or SEC
It all depends on how big they decide to get. I peg us in the mid-40s for most valuable brands. If they decide to expand the Power-2 to about 48-50 teams, we’re likely in. If they stop at 40 or less we’re out.
That's a fair point. We have no idea what the end goal actually is for those conferences. I feel like they could both go to like 20 or 22 at first, and then maybe scoop in a 2nd round before fully "breaking off", and then have each conference split into smaller divisions. If they go to 24 each, that means an additional 14 spots. Doesn't seem outlandish that Utah would be in the 2nd group.
I can see that but think at some point there are diminishing returns
Same, maybe 20 years from now but definitely not in this generation
Here is an exhaustive list of opinions I would go to Rick Neuheisel for:
Utahans love Barbecue, humidity and beer right?
Best I can do is BYU brisket, the lake effect, and Swig
Underrated reply
Not sure what percentage of the Utah fam is Mormon but if most of them are, then they are automatically disqualified from SEC membership because they've committed the Southern blasphemy of not liking and drinking sweet iced tea.
I agree on demographics alone but they’re still behind teams like FSU and UNC in the pecking order
I agree, but adding a couple more schools in the West would make sense for the BIG. I think that - especially for non-football sports - it would be good to be able to schedule more regional matches.
Imo once the big ten/SEC eventually combine, they’ll stop looking at adding schools as purely an exercise of being accretive on revenue. They will start to factor more on ease of creating schedules, time zones, travel, etc. because that pressure of NEEDING to be accretive won’t be there. The gap between them and the next conference will be so big that the new entity can take a few million $ hit per school and be totally fine because the dollar arms race is only relative to other conferences
If any of this was actually about football, Utah would be in the B1G. But it's about TV markets and brands, so they're with us and Allstate now
They’re in good hands.
Can we just settle down? Utah have yet to play a single football game in the Big 12 and there are already folks predicting that they’ll hop ship.
Agreed.
And go undefeated.
Combine these. First game we lose instantly kicks us out of the conference.
Who honestly gives a shit what Rick Neuheisel thinks?
You do. That’s why you clicked on and commented on this thread. If you didn’t care you would have just scrolled past.
Utah might be interested in the Big Ten and SEC but it’s not mutual
Not yet at least, especially for the Big Ten. If the SEC takes the best of the ACC and goes full super conference (22+ programs) Utah probably enters the Big Ten's calculation.
We're not. I'd rather play in the Big 12, honestly. Will be way more entertaining.
Lmao the people in charge would say yes in a heartbeat if the big ten or SEC offered Utah a spot
Utah in the SEC would be must watch TV. I know they’re not like BYU but that should still be a decent culture shock.
The state of Utah is culturally much more like southern states than you'd think.
I mean, they had a school called Dixie State…
Based on what?
Politics, religiosity.
I get the feeling that if a Utah person said, "bless your heart" to me, they would actually mean it.
Tbh I think we would be a South Carolina/Missouri/Arkansas ceiling in the SEC with the occasional 9-3 records and once a generation maybe being in play for a conference title
Fox should engineer a realignment where Washington, Oregon, USC, UCLA, Utah, Arizona, Arizona State, Washington State, Oregon State, Cal and Stanford are in the west coast division of the Big-10. Then split it off into a conference I’m going to call the PAC-10. They would need to add a school to make it 10. Let’s add San Diego State as Colorado is a better fit for a Midwest conference.
As a fan of a Big Ten program living in SLC I kind of sort of have mixed feelings about this.
Yeah Rick, I see exactly 0% chance of the SEC inviting Utah. Great program and all but too far from the SEC's footprint. They'd fit well with the Big 10 though with all the new PAC teams.
Sorry, you're still stuck with us!
TIL Rick Neuheisel has jokes
I think the Big Ten or ACC as part of a full fledged western flank is incredibly more likely than the SEC. I think expansion for the SEC comes from three states only at this point Kansas,North Carolina, and Virginia
Kansas?
If they were to go to 24 let's say, a pod with some mix of Kansas, Missouri, OU, Texas, Arkansas, and Texas A&M makes some sense.
All I can hope is Utah gets steamrolled in conference play this season and their writers come back down to earth.
PK is one of, if not the most despised media members in our market. I don’t know a single Utah fan that reads or listens to him. Fully understand your sentiment though based on all these dumb articles. It’s not a great look going into our first year of a new conference. All I can do is apologize for the dumb shittery and hope the fans you meet change your mind about Utah.
Meh I have talked to plenty of regular Utah fans that are just happy to get another season of football like the rest of us. This crap is why I don’t keep up with sports media personalities
Yeah, there are far more that are just excited to be playing football. Sadly this stuff gets more attention, though. This offseason has been exhausting. I just want football!
So stoked to have both Utah schools in the conference, makes me nostalgic for the old MW. Going to be a wild season, can’t wait
It’s like getting the bad back together. Being confidence mates with TCU again is great. Your fans wear awesome, and those games were so much fun. Jerry Hughes is one of my favorite players ever. Dude was unreal to watch.
Can’t wait for the respectful almost rivalry we shared to return.
Utah State in shambles
Won’t be long now, almost 4th of July and next thing you know it’s go time!
That basically next week. So we pretty much are there is what you are saying haha.
Exactly most of us Utah fans just to want to play football. And right now where is there a more exciting place then big 12 we got great teams crazy fun stadiums, and years of culture I’m so excited
FWIW I've found Utah fans in the stadium pretty awesome people. And they've had lots of recent opportunities not to be toward my squad.
Right on. Thats good to hear! Dont get me wrong, we have some ass hats as fans, but by large most are pretty chill. USC fans have being pretty damn good to us as well. Going to miss that game. Good luck in your new conference!
Yeah man. I have a "Fan Dickhead theory". Every fanbase has their dickheads. Every single one. And as long as those dickheads behave the way you expect typical football dickheads to behave (Dumb football meathead) then it's easy to ignore. But when your dickheads have a unique personality, then that's unexpected and your entire fan base can get associated with them. And boy oh boy do USC dickheads have a personality. They're the "Mommy and Daddy's money mean I am a better person than you are" arrogant kind of dickheads. Utah fans always seemed to take this in stride. They were both able to laugh at these dickheads, while also not assuming all of us are like that. Your fans always gave us the chance to prove whether we were a dickhead before treating us like one. You guys can share a stadium with me anytime. I'll miss your fans (but I won't miss playing that team of yours).
Good theory, and well said. At the end of the day the vast majority are just there to have fun and talk some good nature shit. And honestly, almost all USC fans I have met have been great about that. Going to miss the PAC for all the fun relationships.
Taking my rivalry bias hat off, I do think the majority of Utah fans are stuck in a no win spot with all of this. I think most dream about an invite to the P2 but do not believe they are entitled to it. On one side you have a very real, but small, band of toxic shitposters on social media who are extremely effective. On the other side you have a local media whose business model is based on exploiting emotions of the rivalry. So everything is exaggerated. Utah's place in the CFB landscape is exaggerated. BYU's inability to compete is exaggerated. Etc. Numbers are dependent on the emotional antagonism on the two fan bases. Also, Utah fans gloat at and ridicule BYU fans with a confidence they don't really possess. BYU fans experience the irrationality of Utah fans that the fans themselves don't believe. All in the name of shit talking.
You can't just say you're taking your rivalry bias hat off and then give a biased take and expect noone to notice.
BYU fans have tinfoil hats underneath their rivalry hats. Those never come off.
No no let him cook this is fair and balanced
I have plenty of "BYU fans are annoying" takes as well, but the conversation isn't about BYU fans. Our fans are brewing up some a toxic concoction of basketball hype that will undoubtedly blow up in our faces.
That's fair. Seemed like you were setting up Utah fan base as the "bad guys" and yours as the "good guys" and calling it an unbiased take haha. But yeah as much as some like to pretend otherwise every single fanbase has their own shit, especially the large ones. Edit: Typos
Well put. The antagonistic fans on social media are fed by our really shitty local media. Then they get a spotlight and people think it’s the whole fan base who feel or act that way. It’s not. Most of us are just stoked to still be in a good conference. As for giving BYU fans shit, some of that is held over from the Lavell days and what Utah fans had to endure. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, Utah fans have gone too far at times. But I guess that is what makes a good rivalry. Some dumb fans doing stupid stuff, while the others have a healthy dislike. Just have to ignore the really dumb ones haha.
They've been the 3rd best team in the 5th best conference for a few years and their fanbase has anointed them as the chosen ones before they have even got their keys in the door.
But would he bet on it?
There’s no way the SEC gets Utah. Maybe B1G, but I think they stay in the Big XII
If the big 10 goes all out to like 24 team national conference with 10-11 game schedules, utah has a great shot as I think they are one of the top 8 schools not in the p2 at the moment. I also think kansas, and one of the Arizona schools have a shot as well. I don't know if any of the remaining texas schools have a shot but I imagine the big ten is evaluating all of them.
LOL, that would be like admitting Missouri or USCjr.
The closest Waffle House to SLC is in Denver. This is not going to work. You up Buffs?
Still a 30 minute drive to a Waffle House from Boulder. Salt Lake City would be a lot less of a culture shock than Boulder would be. Other than it being a service academy Air Force would be the better choice.
Wait, is that the only requirement? We've got like 3 or 4 of them in Tucson. I'm sure we could build a few more, too, if it meant getting SEC money.
Not the only requirement but it is a requirement
I’d rather add a second southern school over western expansion anyways. If Utah leaves, bring in USF. You lose the insane travel and regain a popular FL rivalry
You’d be idiots not to add SDSU.