play them. This is honestly true. That is why I don't really consider them a rival. Certainly we have history with them but little of that history has been back and forth. Living in Utah I hear about them a little more than some other teams with similar history but literally no emotion is attached to them unless we lose and then it is sadness because I know we have better recruiting, facilities and resources and should expect to win. Call it disrespect but it is really logic. I don't begrudge Wisconsin, Tennessee or USC for feeling that same sadness losing to BYU because I know there is a vast difference in recruiting and resources and honestly they should win that game 9/10 times.

Seems like every two weeks I have banter with a Ute fan and some random person awkwardly interjects we are both supporting the wrong team and says they are a Utah State fan. The Ute fan and myself will both look at each other knowingly and kindly include Utah State in the discussion in some way before moving back to rival banter. Its like a symbolic pat on the head for the Utah State fan. Mostly annoyance that for the emotion they feel towards us just like Wyoming, UNLV, New Mexico, San Diego St football fans but I understand that it is carryover from being downtrodden. I actually have felt more of a rivalry in the past for some of those schools simply from a basketball perspective. I'm sure I would feel different if I lived in Ogden or more Northern Utah but I live in Davis County, which is pretty far North and I still can't care for Utah State more than any other MWC team not Boise St. I actually think Utah State's a good school and would consider sending my kids there.

When it comes to Utah State the most vivid memory is a conversation with my brother. He was Student body Vice president at Utah State and loved it. The school was a great fit for him. He started to talk football smack with me telling me how much the game meant to BYU and I stopped him cold. "Come on. You grew up a BYU fan" I said "and you know how we feel about this game." A small silence followed and he said "I know. I think we just hope that some day a Utah/BYU like rivalry could exist between Utah State and BYU. We hope we can get competitive enough and it will become that." I acknowledged if they can consistently beat BYU 4/10 times for a lengthy period of time that might happen but not anytime soon. I still feel that way and I'm sure Utah State fans still feel that way as well. No disrespect just simple reality.