All this talk about wanting USC to be good…

[Tony (admin)]

Am I the only one that would love to see them suck, forever? Someone else can take the baton as the premier team in the Pac-12… like, say… UTAH. 🙂

[Utesbyfive]

We’d all love it. There’s no money in it. To even try to keep up with USC, we need USC money, and we only get that when they are good. It doesn’t have to be better than us. They just have to be in the top 15 every pre-season, and stay in the top 25.

[SalUteopia]

I know, right?? Say we become the Clemson of P12, and USC/UO become the FSU/Miami equivalent. Who says no?

[Tednab]

Yeah , not interested one bit in USC or BYU for that matter. It’s time the Utes cash in and bring home the pac 12 championship.

[EagleMountainUte]

Well Utah has a chance to prove it for the next two seasons. These schedules hit the mark on a national level. Depends if we get the time slots for eyes on Utah as well. 

As far creating a brand comparable to USC. You would have to win for 30 years straight. Win multiple championships and multiple Heismans. It just isn’t realistic as the powers that be consolidate even more power soon. I am ok with it to. I love watching Utah football. I don’t enjoy many other teams. Yesterday was the most football I have watched in a while it was only because I was sick. 

As long as Oregon and ASU lose to Utah that’s all I care about. F**k em. 

[Tony (admin)]

If we have the players. Seems like we’re losing a lot of talent. 

[EagleMountainUte]

That is why Utah won’t be a blue blood. You worry about this every year. I don’t blame any player seeking after a paycheck. 

[Ghost of the HEB]

In the beauty contest that is college football, you need the big brands in your conference to be relevant. Utah can be really good for a while, but that’s not gonna turn us into a blue blood that can carry the conference reputation banner. We need teams like USC and Oregon to standout nationally for the long term viability of our conference.

[dystopiamembrane]

Assuming that your opening statement is true, why do you believe that Utah cannot turn into a blue blood and standout nationally?

[krindor]

Utah could absolutely turn into a blue blood nationally. After all Oregon wasn’t…until they were. Same with Miami and a bunch of others. But the reality is that it takes a decade plus of winning at the very very highest levels to be a blue blood, so it’s not happening anytime soon.

In the last 16 years pre-COVID Wisconsin finished ranked 13 times. From 2010-2019 they were top 10 4 times and played for the conference title 7 times (winning 3) in that decade. They never won fewer than 8 games and had 7 years with 10+ wins.

I think just about any Ute fan would happily take that kind of performance for our next decade. But that still didn’t make Wisconsin into the type of blue blood program that could steal a coach like Lincoln Riley. Whereas USC, despite much worse performance, has the history and location that they still can.

[Central Coast Ute]

You’re not the only one. I’m also not convinced Riley is going to be their savior. Kiffin can win at Miss but not USC? The USC boosters are hard to deal with. Maybe he’ll turn it around, but I won’t be convinced until it happens

[2008 National Champ]

Kiffin had to deal with the sanctions Pete Carroll left. I thought he did a very good job getting talent in considering the scholarship reductions and he still put up winning seasons. That he got fired for not winning National Championships under those circumstances was a huge mistake but SC was gonna SC.

Switch Kiffin and Sarkisian’s tenures and Lane might have already gotten SC to top of Pac status, Saban might still have a stone-age offense and Reilly might be a name we never concern ourselves with. That’s why it is so hard to evaluate these decisions in real time since we never know which dominos are going to be affected.