Kyle Gunther was down covering one of the open practices a couple weeks ago. I started talking to him as he was walking out and he was kind enough to stop and chat.

He was surprised and impressed with the number of fans who showed up on a Wednesday morning with short notice to see nothing more than just a practice. He said that BYU was everything a big time program is other than the conference to call home.

The thing that stood out to me most though was when he talked about the media market and how they plan their shows. He questioned out loud what other market would a professional sports team (Jazz) be 2nd or 3rd place in importance for the local population.

He said that BYU is always the top story when they plan what to talk about for the day. Then from there it's either the PAC 12 (didn't mention the Utes specifically) or the Jazz.

BYU is the main draw in this state. Doesn't matter what the sign at the point of the mountain says as you enter the valley nor how many shirts get sold there.