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Where there is smoke - Utah to the Pac Ten?
by JazzyUte on Feb 8, 2010 10:59 PM MST
in Football
21 comments
Oh the joys of football offseason! As it seems every year, a rumor here and there is kicked around that the Pac Ten might be making a move on the expansion front. Of course, the months pass and nothing eventful happens.
Is this different?
Who the hell knows. What I do know is that for the last 24 hours, rumors have kicked in that the Pac Ten is ready to pull the trigger on expansion and Utah will be included. This could happen as early as this week. Or not. That's the beauty of rumors - they're generally open-ended.
But one can't deny there are rumblings. Not just from the local press (KTVX tonight talked about the possibility), but even California papers are starting to report on the possibility.
This from the San Jose Mercury News:
Does that mean Scott is considering expansion?
"We’re looking at it very seriously. It wasn’t something identified for me by the presidents when I took the job. But it’s very natural as you look at the value of the conference from a media standpoint. If we were ever going to look at expansion, this would be the logical time" (because negotiations for a new TV deal will begin next year).
* I took that as an indication that Scott is more serious about expansion than he was three or six months ago.
"No, I think I’ve been consistent on that subject."
Emphasis mine.
It's not hard to put two and two together on this one, folks. They're seriously looking at the possibility of expansion and if they were to ever expand, this would be the logical time.
Not a year from now. Or even a month from now. But today.
Personally, I doubt we'll hear anything this week. Or next week. Or a month from now. It'll happen one day (I believe). Not this year, though and maybe not next year.
But for now, it seems like their commissioner is open to the idea. And compared to the last guy, that's a huge step in the right direction.
21 comments | 0 recs |
Utah's long national nightmare continues - Rams destroy Utes in SLC 65-50.
by JazzyUte on Feb 3, 2010 8:30 PM MST
in Basketball
3 comments
I'll say it - the most embarrassing loss of the Jim Boylen era. Utah got manhandled by by the freakin' CSU Rams. Colorado State! Remember when they were the butt of so many jokes? Well that's our Utes now, folks. In fact, Tim Miles seems to have turned that program around rather quickly (they're 4-4 in Mountain West play).
But what this loss means more than anything is that Utah isn't getting any better. It's now February and they're every bit as bad as they were in November. Absolutely zero improvement suggests this whole rebuilding effort is going to be longer and deeper than any of us had ever imagined (how's a seven year plan sound?).
Ugh. Inexcusable loss by a team that should be showing some improvement. Instead, I fear they're regressing. By late-February, we might not even field a team.
3 comments | 0 recs |
And boom goes the dynamite
by JazzyUte on Feb 3, 2010 3:54 PM MST
in Football
3 comments
The 2010 recruiting day is over. Exhausted? I am. It was a pretty spectacular day for the Utes, who, according to Rivals, produced the 32nd best class nationally and tops for a non-BCS team.
Speculation aside, I'm pretty excited about this class. If we're going on subjective rankings alone - it's probably the best we've seen here. Whether these players pan out, though, won't be known for at least a year (and that's stretching it). But for now, talk is good.
The class after the jump!
3 comments | 0 recs |
The class of 2010
by GambitUte on Feb 3, 2010 2:05 PM MST
2 comments
Well, now that signing day is all but over for us,(unless of course we get some last minute surprises) I thought I'd briefly go over the list of guys I think could make a quick contribution to 2010. Looking over the rankings just now , Utah ranks just below BYU, however with the commitment of John Cullen (fingers crossed), I think it will barely push us over our rivals down south. This year was a little more quiet than most in terms of the in-state battle, I think the only real head to head loss we took was the decommitment of three star RB Joshua Quezada. to the Cougs . Anyways here are a few new faces:
V.J Fehoko: Four star LB
I was kinda shocked that our biggest rivals in getting him was not BYU but Utah St. I'm really glad to see this happening. With the loss of stud Stevenson Sylvester we have a chance to make the transition of replacing him more smoothly.
James Aiono: Five star DE (JC recruit)
Technically speaking Aiono was recruited last year but academic problems post-poned his debut to 2010 so I'll just include him in the new faces of this class. The word is this kid can play, with the loss of Koa Misi any help we get at DE is great. The question is though how much will his sitting for a year affect his overall impact. If he catches on quick , we should be doing just fine at DE considering he have a load of talent besides him with Shelby, Fotu ,Cox and the incoming Joe Kruger.
The WR commitments: (Kenneth Scott, Terrell Reese and Dres Anderson)
The loss of David Reed and Aiona Key is huge as such, I think this years WR class could make a big impact. I do like that we have Jeremy Brooks and Shaky Smithson coming back. Their senior leadership will be key in helping the new guys get settled.
Joseph Smith: three star athlete
Keep in mind I'm a mormon guy, so the irony of this guy playing for us and not BYU is not lost on me. All joking aside though, I just have a gut feeling this guy is gonna be a good football player. Since our secondary is taking one of the biggest hits with the loss of RoJo, we'll need plenty of help replacing him and Joe Dale.
John Cullen: four star offensive tackle (JC recruit)
If this year is going to be successful, QB Jordan Wynn will need a great O-line. This move will help tremendously especially with Zane Beadles graduating and with a line that already consists of Zane Taylor and Caleb Schlauderaff, it should be even better.
We have loads of talent coming in, I really hope we can find a good place for all of them and that the depth will push us one step closer to another super season.
2 comments | 0 recs
The future is today!
by JazzyUte on Feb 2, 2010 10:21 PM MST
in Football
9 comments
Today is signing day! The future of every football program across this great diverse nation of ours will be held hostage by a bunch of high school kids and, knock on wood, decent fax machines.
These are the moments that make or break a coaching staff. You don't bring in the recruits, you're not going to win and if you don't win...well I don't need to finish that one for you.
So, as it is every year, the top recruits will fax in their letters of intent and all will be right with the world. Because these kids haven't played a down of football at the college level! That means the sky is the limit or something.
For Utah, it's a chance to cash in all those chips from the Sugar Bowl run a year ago and last season's 10-3 season.
Tomorrow I'll post updates on the players who have signed and if you want true up-to-date news, check out the awesome Utezone. Which will be following Utah's signees all day.
Let the games begin!
9 comments | 0 recs |
You love him...you really love him!
by JazzyUte on Jan 31, 2010 10:35 PM MST
in Holy War
0 comments
Good ol' Jackson Emery is proof positive they breed fine actors down in Utah County.
And we all know what happens to fine actors...
And the winner is...
Sally Field would be proud!
0 comments | 0 recs |
Cougars dominate Utes in both acting and on the court
by JazzyUte on Jan 30, 2010 11:01 PM MST
in Basketball
13 comments
This game pretty much played out exactly how I expected. That's the bad news. The good news? We found out BYU basketball players are as big of pusses as their football brethren.
Not like we needed a reminder of this, though.
The play, of course, came when Marshall Henderson successfully bounced the ball off a BYU player and was walking back onto the court when it appeared he gave Jackson Emery a 'slap' (read: bitch slap). He was tossed and the boos rained down from the crowd. Predictable.
It certainly looked like something had happened between the two. However, the acting job Emery produced was worthy of an Oscar mention because it was down right beautiful how he sold what, in reality, was barely a tap.
See for yourself...
Thanks goes to UFN's 89Ute
Hardly anything. And certainly not as bad as people made it seem.
The loss still stings, though. Especially since Utah really only showed up for about five minutes of true game time. Outside of that, however, it was a blowout.
13 comments | 0 recs |
Rose's gang of oddly named white boys hosts struggling Utes.
by JazzyUte on Jan 30, 2010 3:09 PM MST
in Basketball
0 comments
So I'm going to admit something I hate admitting: I am jealous of the BYU basketball program right now. Of course, the key words in that statement are right now. Because it's a no-brainer that, at least on the national stage, Utah has done more over the past twenty years than the Cougars could ever hope to achieve.
Unfortunately, that and a dollar is only good enough to buy you something off the McDonald's Dollar Menu.
But there is no denying what BYU has done over the last few years. Since Rose took over, they've won at least a share of the Mountain West the last three seasons and look well on their way to a fourth straight title. No team in the history of this conference has been that dominant at this level.
If Utah was the team of the 90s for the WAC, the Cougars certainly are jockeying to be the team of this decade for the Mountain West and it hurts extra more when you realize it coincides with the worst era the Utes have produced since probably the pre-Gardner days.
And that's where these two teams converge. They're on opposite sides of the road, even though a year ago it looked like Utah had finally found its footing. For BYU, there has been no step back since the Rose era began. In fact, they've reloaded and won like only a handful of teams have nationally over the past five years. What that has given them is national publicity, a stronger recruiting pool and their fans hope, eventually, more clout on the national stage.
It is there where the Cougars have struggled. Rose, in all the good he's done down there, has still failed at advancing beyond the first round in the NCAA Tournament. It's been nearly thirty years since BYU last made a deep tournament run (their 1981 Elite Eight appearance) and it seems that's the only thing holding their program back from being a legitimate power.
That should change this season.
Rose's Cougars started the 2010 season with their best start ever - rising to as high as tenth in one poll for the first time in program history. And though they fell at The Pit earlier this week, they're established enough to probably garner a very good seed in this year's tournament - especially if they win out, which seems very possible.
If that happens, a deep tournament run should be expected.
For Utah, it's a different season. There is no hope of playing in the NCAA Tournament outside of an improbable event like winning the Mountain West Tournament. The NIT seems unlikely, as well. That leaves the lower-level tournaments that offer little in terms of publicity and success.
So this season has now become all about playing the spoiler and progressing. Utah could rock the Cougars with a win tonight in Provo - but that's unlikely. That means tonight's game is mostly about playing competitive, not wilting and showing some progress. Something this team has sorely lacked over the year.
A win over BYU would be nice. But I'm a realist. We'll talk about that possibility when they come to Salt Lake later in the conference season. For now, I just hope they don't roll over and die.
0 comments | 0 recs |
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Utes Football Schedule
| Utah State | Thu 09/03 | W 35 - 17 |
| @ San Jose St. | Sat 09/12 | W 24 - 14 |
@
Oregon
|
Sat 09/19 | L 24 - 31 |
|
Louisville
|
Sat 09/26 | W 30 - 14 |
| @ Colorado St. | Sat 10/10 | W 24 - 17 |
| @ UNLV | Sat 10/17 | W 35 - 15 |
| Air Force | Sat 10/24 | W 23 - 16 |
| Wyoming | Sat 10/31 | W 22 - 10 |
| New Mexico | Sat 11/07 | W 45 - 14 |
| @ TCU | Sat 11/14 | L 28 - 55 |
| San Diego St. | Sat 11/21 | W 38 - 7 |
|
@
BYU
|
Sat 11/28 | L 23 - 26 |
|
@
California
|
Wed 12/23 | W 37 - 27 |
Mountain West Conference Standings
(updated 1.4.2010 at 11:13 PM MST)
| Conf | Overall | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
| TCU Horned Frogs | 8 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
|
BYU Cougars
|
7 | 1 | 11 | 2 |
|
Utah Utes
|
6 | 2 | 10 | 3 |
| Air Force Falcons | 5 | 3 | 8 | 5 |
| Wyoming Cowboys | 4 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| UNLV Rebels | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| San Diego St. Aztecs | 2 | 6 | 4 | 8 |
| New Mexico Lobos | 1 | 7 | 1 | 11 |
| Colorado St. Rams | 0 | 8 | 3 | 9 |
Utes Basketball Schedule
Next 5 Games
| @ TCU | Wed 02/10 | 6:00 PM MST |
| New Mexico | Sat 02/13 | 7:00 PM MST |
| UNLV | Wed 02/17 | 8:00 PM MST |
| @ San Diego St. | Sat 02/20 | 7:00 PM MST |
| @ Air Force | Wed 02/24 | 6:30 PM MST |
Last 5 Games
| Colorado St. | Wed 02/03 | L 50 - 65 |
|
@
BYU
|
Sat 01/30 | L 69 - 82 |
| @ Wyoming | Wed 01/27 | L 69 - 75 |
| Air Force | Sat 01/23 | W 71 - 54 |
| San Diego St. | Tue 01/19 | L 68 - 70 |
Mountain West Conference Standings
(updated 2.7.2010 at 12:21 AM MST)
| Conf | Overall | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
BYU Cougars
|
7 | 2 | 22 | 3 |
| New Mexico Lobos | 7 | 2 | 21 | 3 |
| UNLV Runnin Rebels | 7 | 2 | 19 | 4 |
| San Diego St. Aztecs | 5 | 4 | 16 | 7 |
| Colorado St. Rams | 5 | 4 | 14 | 9 |
|
Utah Utes
|
3 | 5 | 10 | 12 |
| TCU Horned Frogs | 3 | 6 | 11 | 13 |
| Wyoming Cowboys | 2 | 7 | 9 | 14 |
| Air Force Falcons | 1 | 8 | 9 | 13 |
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