We’re just not used to losing these types of games on our home floor. Had it been up there in Moscow, I don’t think anyone would’ve batted an eye. But it isn’t like the WAC is a power conference outside of Nevada (and they’re meh now) and Utah State. This loss sucks because it came to a team that managed only 17-wins last year and most importantly, because it came at home.

I’m not going to panic, though. As you can see, I made reference to Southwest Baptist State. The Utes lost to them in the opener (they’re not even in the same division as either Idaho or Utah) and rebounded to not only win a share of the Mountain West, but the conference tournament and received a fifth seed in the NCAA Tournament.

I don’t expect that type of rebound this go around and because of that, I think there is minor concern at this moment amongst Ute fans. If we can’t beat Idaho, how are we going to do well enough in our out of conference schedule to gain some momentum for conference play?

No disrespect to the Vandals (they may turn out to be a helluva team this season), but they really don’t compare to many of our other out of conference opponents.

Unfortunately, that includes games against:

Illinois
Michigan
Oklahoma
Illinois State
LSU

That does not include conference games against New Mexico, BYU, UNLV and San Diego State. Three of those five teams I listed (Illinois, Michigan and Oklahoma) are currently ranked.

So, I think many of us felt Idaho was a likely win and now that it’s a loss means we’re probably due for a lot more. Here at Utah, we’re not used to that. It’s going to be a tough season and hopefully you’re right and the Utes get better with inexperience. But getting to that point might mean a lot of ugly games, griping and yes – bitching about losing to teams like Idaho.