First, I will fully own up to coming in here from time to time to troll a bit after an SMC win. You guys dish it back. It’s all good. Not going to apologize, but acknowledge it’s all meant in good fun - whether you see it that way or not.

I never gave much thought to BYU before you guys arrived in the WCC. I have lots of Mormon friends. None that are as hardcore BYU fans as this crowd, but I will say I’ve rarely met a Mormon in person that wasn’t delightful.

That’s why I was a bit taken aback when a bunch of various MWC fans showed up on our board warning us about BYU sports fans and how toxic you supposedly were the moment you were announced as joining the WCC. We took an “ok, we’ll see” stance, but it didn’t take long before I poked my head in here out of curiosity. It was eye opening. Lots of condescending and entitled comments about how the WCC was beneath BYU. How BYU was going to run roughshod over us in our “two-car garage”. How it was a demotion from the MWC. I remembered the close loss to the Jimmer-led team the year before. I had looked forward to having another strong team in our league. But the negativity came fast and strong from your fanbase.

Look, I know it’s not all of you. Maybe it’s not even most of you. But it was not what I expected.

I still remember vividly watching SMC’s first visit to the Marriott on TV. SMC won in a game marred by fans throwing trash on the court multiple times and booing relentlessly any time a call didn’t go their way - even when the foul was obvious. The Jumbotron replaying bad calls to rile up the crowd but not replaying good calls. It very much felt like the warnings were apt. There’s passion and great atmosphere, and there’s toxicity, and it felt very much like the latter. And this was SMC’s FIRST visit. I guess we broke some home streak of yours and you didn’t take it well. But it was kinda ugly.

Not sure you know this, but our classic rival going back a century is actually Santa Clara. The intensity of that rivalry evaporated once both schools canned football (we used to be a national football powerhouse, look it up) and then Bennett put us on the basketball map and we became the one consistent thorn in Gonzaga’s side.

Now all of a sudden we had a new rival. The hatred towards us was real and intense and honestly, totally unexpected. It didn’t take long. We started to LOVE beating BYU, and hated to lose in a way that was different than Gonzaga. In a weird way, you guys brought us and Gonzaga together in solidarity. It’s like having a sibling rivalry and a stranger starts throwing insults. We may fight each other, but we’re brothers and this interloper isn’t family. That’s how it felt. Not sure how the dynamic changes with you guys gone, but the rivalry between GU and SMC is more respectful now. The comment above mentions the Zag fans truly hating Samhan. Yeah, they did. We HATED Adam Morrison and especially Robert Sacre with a similar intensity - all this before you arrived. Now? Still rivals, but I don’t HATE any of their players. Guys like Timme? He seems cool. Go to their board. They don’t HATE Mahaney. It’s a much more respectful rivalry than ever. Intense, sure. But not toxic.

I think you guys did that. You guys gave us a mutual villain to distract us from one another. So, um… thanks?

I know I’m rambling a bit. I still don’t care for your entitled fans. You complain about refs entirely too much. Seriously. Get help. But I acknowledge you are passionate. You have a great school and great resources. You’ve left us with good memories (winning the “trash” game, the Dellevadagger, silencing Emery with a win after he posted his video making fun of our gym on his first visit, Jordan Ford’s game winner in the COVID year, Mahaney’s buzzer beater, annually being selected to finish behind you then more often than not, NOT having that happen). I imagine that list rankles you, but you got your wins and memories against us too.

Out of everything, the one thing I don’t get is the hate for Bennett for doing the same things lots of competitive coaches do. He had nothing but good things to say about BYU over the years. Don’t think I ever heard anything remotely chippy pointed BYU’s way. Think what you want, but he’s widely regarded as a class guy. I don’t get it.

So this isn’t a mea culpa or an admission of deep seated respect. I’m glad you got what you wanted heading to a bigger better league. I won’t “miss” BYU. I’ll probably just stop thinking about you much like before. But I hope it works out for you in the Big12, for the sake of the good fans.

It was a good decade of heated rivalry. Objectively, we won. And now it’s over. I’m sure we’ll see one another on the court again eventually. Try not to throw trash.

Alright fine… Respect. All the best to you and your team.