Let's just get that out there. They will always be able to find someone interesting to play, as well as a bunch of boring cupcakes. Living in Texas, where football is king, I can honestly say that the only time Utah is mentioned is when I run into the occasional obnoxious Yewt at church. However, I do occasionally hear BYU come up on the radio, see them often on ESPN or an affiliate and of course there is that little ol BYUTV channel. Haven't seen a Yewt channel. Ever.

Now am I jealous of them joining the Pac ##? Sure, a little. But, I'm also glad it almost guarantees 2-3 losses, minimum, for them every year. Yewts act like they entered the Pac as conquering heroes. They didn't. Their 2 amazing seasons are in the rearview mirror now. Will they have good years? Sure, once in awhile. Might even have one or two top tens in a decade. But, they'll just be another middle of the pack (pun intended) team most of the time. Meaning they won't be competing for the NC for sure, and also won't really be competing for the conference title either. Oh sure, someone will make a big deal out of possible scenarios where if they win 2 of 3 games they can get into the conference championship game. Then they'll choke and go 1-2 or get pummeled in the championship game. Yippee.

Now the Big 10 issue is interesting. Admittedly it's nice to be able to have a Big 10 team on the schedule every year. But, let's not overstate how powerful that conference is either. Outside Big 10 country, most football fans snicker at their supposed strength. Their top teams regularly lose to the top teams, and not so top teams, of the other conferences. And let's hope we never see a Big 10 team in the NC game. Embarrassing. Urban Doosh might be able to work his evil magic with OSU. As for Utah getting a B10 team every year? So what? That means they could have a home and home with Northwestern, Indiana, Iowa, Illinios, Purdue, and Minnesota. 12 years of BOOOORING. At least those should usually be wins. Plus, I'm guessing Penn St. is on the slide, Michigan St. usually only flirts with being relevant and Nebraska is not the power they once were. I say about half of those will result in losses. I would chalk up a loss for the Yewts at least 70% of the time when they play OSU, Michigan (on the rise again, I think) and Wisconsin.

By the way, the Coogs schedule isn't too horrible for the next few years. We already have games against ND, Boise, Texas, Nebraska, and GT, as well as others. Sure GT wants to drop 2 games, but I don't think we'll have too much trouble filling out the schedule. Houston and So. Miss aren't pushovers either. Might be by then, but not right now. Plus, with more than 60 teams in the big 6 conferences, there's bound to be someone willing to play us. Unfortunately, we'll probably get roped into some 2 for 1 situations, but that's the way it goes. I would not schedule those with the weak Pac 12 however. From what I have observed at BYU, at USU, and just in general living in California, Idaho, Utah, North Carolina and Texas, the Yewts care more about the rivalry than the Coogs. This is frustrating to me sometimes actually. I hate losing to the Yewts and love watching them lose to anyone, in any sport. I grew up being a die hard BYU fan. I watch them whenever I can, including volleyball on Coog network. But, a lot of Coogs simply shrug and go about life when they lose the Utah game. Not me. I agonize about it. I walk through the halls at church the next day and punch Yewts in the face. Even their kids. At least that's what happens in my mind. So, to make an already way too long story short, maybe it's not so bad that the rivalry might die. I might just be able to enjoy BYU sports and Utah will become irrelevant to me. But, I think both sides will agree (at least those with brains) that the two are very much connected, have both risen and fallen on the backs of each other, and the break up will be painful.