Big 12 schedules are definitely a downgrade from the PAC 12 but they are also a big upgrade from the Mountain West.
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Itās definitely fun to see quality, big-name opponents on the schedule, but Iām a fan no matter what. Iām sure fans like me in their mid-40s and older remember the MWC and WAC days. In the 80s, for example, when I was a kid going to Rice Stadium, seeing BYU and Wyoming on the schedule was as good as it would get. Utah could never schedule a game against a top power-conference team. I remember in 1985 when Utah had a home game with Washington State, It seemed like such a big deal. Imagine that.
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I caught some disturbance in the aether that Whit and Michigan tried to poach Byrd to Michigan. Ron McBride is supposedly the source.
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That rumor seems to have legs. One of the student workers in our office is a friend of Byrdās. It is a good thing that Byrd really likes being at Utah and he is really close to Devon Dampier. I would be very very surprised if he went anywhere else.
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I celebrated the PACMAS as intensely as anyone here, or anywhere, with the side benefit that we distanced ourselves from our former rivalry, which had become toxic. I traveled to most of the cities in the PAC12 for Ute away games at least once, and my son (who was a high school/college student/recent grad during most of those years), had made it a goal for his family to go to each away stadium.
Part of the appeal was some historically great football teams, but also some interesting venues, in relatively close cities, close enough to drive, or with easy air travel.
I was completely devastated when the PAC-12 disintegrated and we got stuck with what seemed like the last best option.
The above is probably typical of most Utefans.
Now, where Iāll disagree:
I grew up visiting small rural communities with my family, in a car or a camper, when I was young. Visiting extended family, towns where my father had lived when he was young, or perhaps stopping for lunch at a road side burger stand on the way to a new fishing hole or scenic destination, state or national park, etc.
Everyone of these little towns had a beautiful old main street, with an historic log cabin built by an early settler, an early near by suburb filled with homes from the 1880s - 1920s, a few local streets, and the roads in and out of town in each direction lined with occasional farm homes from the same era. Each town had a few historical buildings, county hall, city hall, local churches, LDS Tabernacle, etc, which had been preserved by the proud community, and often a small local historical museum (I could always convince my mother to override my fatherās desired to be back on the road, long enough to these visit briefly).
Downtown Salt Lake City, (and in fact most major cities in Utah) were much like this, if only bigger, in the late 50s, early 60s, when I was young, but itās increasingly difficult to find the few remaining hints of that time.
I was recently in Colorado Springs for the first time in my life and spent most of a day riding my bicycle around some remaining parts of the older city center and the nearby Old North End, with itās 1870ās - 1920s architectural beauty. I could have spent another 2 days seeing all of it in detail.
Forget any of the large BIG12 cities, or anywhere in Texas, Florida, or Ohio, but Iād go in a heartbeat for Ute a game in a handful of the small rural ones:
Ames, Iowa,
Manhattan, Kansas,
Lawrence, Kansas,
Stillwater, Oklahoma,
My son who now lives in Portland, does not look at many of the cities in the Big12 with the desire he had for those in the PAC, and my wife considers those above, too difficult a trip to justify. But iāll keep looking for an excuse to go.
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November 14 at Tucson.
That might be a nice road trip.
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Well, you have your chance - Sep 26 in Ames. There are very few that would go in a hearbeat. Last year in Lawrence was a last minute decision (and 18 hours of driving over a 36 hour period).
I will probably never go to Ames, Cinci, Stillwater, Lubbock, Waco, Morgantown for a game. I might go to a game in Orlando, Houston if it aligns with some other reason (work trip, family trip to FL to visit my parents) and it happens to be the same weekend. I probably wonāt go to UA or ASU or KU again, but I have family in PHX, so maybe if it aligns. I might drive out to KSU one time the next time they play there. I went to Utah @ TCU in the MWC and a couple Armed Forces Bowls while living in Texas, so probably wonāt travel again just for that. Itās probably more likely Iād travel back to SLC for a home game than almost any away game now.
In the PAC12, I traveled to:
- UW
- ASU
- UA
- USC - worked into a fall break road trip
- CU (but Iām close, so I go whenever they play in Boulder)
- Bay area for the PAC12 championship but I also went there every quarter for work for a few years
- Las Vegas for PAC12 championship
- Rose Bowl
I traveled for non-conference: Michigan, ND ā¦ I might consider Madison in 2028, Baton Rouge in 2032.
I had refundable plans for the BIG12 championship last year. My nephew lives there and my company HQ is around there so I could swing it.
I probably averaged 1 game attended per year. Easy when itās @CU. Not bad if itās a championship or bowl game (probably not anymore unless CFP, maybe since prices are insane). But I now think it might drop.
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So how was Lawrence, other then the driving 
In the PAC12, I/we traveled to:
- Washington State
- UW
- OU
- Oregon State
- California
- Stanford
- USC - twice
- UCLA
- ASU
- Rose Bowl - twice
I only missed out on AU, which I plan to visit in the next few years, and Colo which my wife, son, and a bunch of friends attended a few years ago (I missed due to a lower back injury). Weāll go to Colo in the next few years also .
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Boring. We tried to hit up a bbq place but it was closed for Thanksgiving Friday?! We drove, slept, walked around pregame (a few cool traditions with the drumline and band at the tower), then drove home (storm was coming). They are trying to ramp up the athletic program and the half of the stadium that has been updated is nice. The other side are 60 rows of straight bleachers.
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Yikes, I might have to do a little āresearchā before I commit to this let alone do it in a heartbeat. I sort of assume that any town settled and developed in that timeframe in that part of the country will have some interesting history and some remaining older and architecturally significant areas, but Iāll have to do some reading to be sure. Thanks!
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The worst part is even if Whitt got treated bad even nefarious by the program here at Utah the athletic director etc, at this point Iāll actually be rooting against him. Something I never thought would happen in a million years. Iām at the point of really wishing for powerful schadenfeude this year. Because I donāt care if he developed the team and put it together and all that other nonsense. It goes beyond disloyal to downright slimy to effectively ravage a program on your way out the door.
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First, fu<k Michigan.
But, dude made this program.
Hats off to McBride and Urban, but Whitt gave this program solidity, persistence, and backbone.
Admittedly, I donāt know all that happened on the way out, but itās rare that a shakeup doesnāt occur when a coach heads to greener pastures.
I would love to know more about his departure, if you care to share.
1 Like
Cliffās Note version:
- Kyle intended to retire after 2024, they had Scalley lined up as the HC in waiting.
- Nobody wanted Kyle to end his career on a losing season, so he came back for one more year in 2025. We did well, then toward the end of the year he decided he didnāt want to retire after all, and actually wanted a big raise + 5 more years. (Sitake getting $9.5M a year at BYU may have been part of the ask. Who knows)
- When the U leadership pushed back and said Scalley canāt be the HC in waiting for another 5 years, things went ballistic, and KW put himself in āthe portalā.
- The Michigan job was open, with great resources and the chance to make a run for a Natty. He didnāt get the $10M a year he was asking for at Utah, but he got $8.2M a year for 5 years, a good candidate to fix the problems there related to Sherrod Mooreās departure.
- On the way out, Whitt took coaches & players, and has apparently still tried to get our backup QB.
I think a lot of Ute fans appreciate Whitt for everything heās done for Utah football, but the way things unfolded means we wonāt be hit up for donations for plaques and field painting for āKyle Whittingham Field at Rice Eccles Stadiumā any time soon.
I personally donāt get too wrapped up in the emotional part of KWās departure. Heās a fiery guy, heās a competitor, heās going to win any way he can. Thatās him.
I think we have a really promising head coach in Scalley. Heās thought deeply about what he wants to do with Utah football, heās a gifted recruiter, an Xs and Os guy, a motivator, heās hit every single note of the song, so far.
Iām excited for the new era.
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Yep, feel the same.
The timing of the Michigan job opening was really after the failed negotiations (on KWās part). I think if Slimeball Sherrone kept it in his pants, KW would not have been āin the portalā and just taken the payout and retired, maybe find some consulting gig or analyst job or something. He was supposed to do some work for the Athletic Department but seems he was pretty fed up with Harlan (before and through the renege of retirement plans). But UM needed someone thatās clean, experienced, and would bring some discipline, it was too hard to pass up (ACTUAL chance at a Natty), and then he did what he did for self-preservation (hired within the small circle he has).
It is hard seeing him in blue and being at Michigan, seems Rich Rodāish, whom we beat in that long rain delay in the 4th (Rich Rod wanted to call it a draw even though we were beating them up in their big house).
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Thank you both.
I think the problem is a lot of those small towns (or medium ones that have revitalized) have built economies that are different so the cute storefront streets are often run down, empty, or left half abandoned and new centers, buildings, or strip malls are in their place.
BUT, having driven through some of these midwest cities, the highways are spectacular - they got their funding and built them for maybe the future city, but itās like a big city highway with not much traffic. Nebraska, Iowa, etc. - itās kind of strange almost. But itās hard to justify the trip just to enjoy a great highway haha.
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This is the part that upset me. Not so much the coaches, but the players. That is basically dumping on one of your former loyal assistants.
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Whit wouldnāt have been doing his job (for which heās getting paid multi-millions) for Michigan if he didnāt go after those players and coaches.
It totally sucks for us, but thatās the business of college football. I donāt hold it against him.
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Completely agree.
I donāt think he was treated badly. I think he got paid millions upon millions of dollars for years and years. I think at times he was dragging the program and perhaps appeared narcistic, petulant and greedy. I think he could have left with a remarkable legacy and goodwill but instead flushed that down the toilet while still getting millions more when the program honored his contract.
I think Michigan serendipitously fell into his lap and it remains to be seen if he can achieve measurable success: But I couldnāt care less about Michigan and I hope we beat them again and again
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