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Show 6 Friday, January 16,2009 SPORTS Frida Saturda Men's Tennis Men's Basketball www.doilyutahchronide.com' Women's Basketball Swimming and Diving Virginia invitational AllOa^ChariottesviiieJa. Eastern Washington @ Utah Colorado § Utah Utah § Colorado Utah @ New Mexico 5:00 PM MI 4:00 P.M. MI 1:00PM.MTFortCoilinsl(olorQdo 12:00 PMMT Albuquerque, NM Women's Tennis GYMNASTICS MEN'S BASKETBALL Utes to face MWC foes Red Rocks travel Marco Villano STAFF WRITER to hostile territo , It's time for Utah to show the league what it is made of. The Utes (n-6,2-1 MWC) start off a series of conference games with a contest at home Saturday against Colorado State, which will be followed by facing the top two teams in the Mountain West Conference— UNLV and BYU. Last season, the Utes didn't have a problem against Colorado, but it's hard to overlook any conference game, especially in a deep, talented Moutain West Conference. Ute forward Shaun Green said the coaches have done a great job in letting the team know to take it one game at a time. "We've watched film on (Colorado State) and they're a very competitive team," Green said. "They've brought in a lot of new players and it seems like they have a whole new attitude about this season." Both Utah and Colorado are coming off of conference wins. The Utes held Air Force to 28 percent shooting Wednesday night, the third-lowest field goal percentage by a Utah opponent in team history. It was the defense that won this game for the Utes, as it shot a dismal 38 percent from the field and still managed to win by 21 points. Colorado State is coming off of a huge upset of UNLV on the same night by 71-69 in Fort Collins, Colo. The Rams forced the Rebels to turn the ball over 17 times, which they took advantage of by scoring 17 points. This win came after two conference losses to TCU and BYU to open the season. It also halted a See BASKETBALL Page 8 Bryan Chouinard STAFF WRITER E RIK DA E NITZ/n* Utah senior leader Shaun Green is looking forward to a competitive game Saturday against Colorado State. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Utes look for revenge against Rams Quinn Wilcox STAFF WRITER Flash back to March 12. Utah was entering the Mountain West Conference tournament with a perfect conference record and the overall No. 1 seed. Then the impossible happened. Utah lost to a Colorado State team that picked up its first conference win that very game and Utah was handed one of the hardest draws in the resulting NCAA tournament. The Utes have had an entire offseason to mull over the loss, and now it is time to try to get revenge. "I think everybody is pretty excited to go up there," said senior Morgan Warburton. "You can't forget a game like that." Upsets aren't unheard of in college hoops, especially during the postseason. But for a team as good as the Utes were last year, to be upset by arguably the worst team in the conference, a team that had only won four games total, is mind-blowing. The Colorado State loss last year not only knocked the Utes out of the Mountain West tournament, but was the biggest reason Utah got a lousy draw in last year's NCAA tournament. Despite a 16-0 mark in conference play and an overall record of 27-4, Utah got a No. 8 seed and was shipped off to Indiana to play Purdue on its home floor, a game it lost. So with everything that stemmed from that one loss, it is easy to see why the Utes remember the game so vividly. "That game is always in the back of my mind," said Warburton. "But at the same time, we can't really See REVENGE Page 7 The Red Rocks will leave Salt Lake City on Saturday morning to make the cross-country trip to Athens, Ga., the site of last year's national championships. This will be the first trip back to Athens for Greg Marsden's squad since its mnner-up finish in the national championship to the host team. "In the past couple years we have always been a little nervous going down (to Athens) and we've kind of doubted ourselves a little bit," said senior Kristina Baskett. "But this year, we're totally excited, we believe in ourselves and we're excited to go down there and give them a run for their money." Although the Red Rocks were able to take down Georgia when they hosted the Gym Dogs at the Huntsman Center during the regular season last year, Utah fell just short in nationals, finishing No. 2 for the third straight year. But the holiday weekend came at the perfect time for the Red Rocks—not only did the extra few days give them more time to work on their routines, but it gave them time to rest as well. "It's really nice to have the longer weekend," Baskett said. "Normally, we're turning around really fast and preparing for a meet Friday night but it's nice to have the longer weekend to nurse some injuries that naturally come from the first meet of the season. So it's a nice break." The short landing Baskett took during her floor routine Jan. 9 against UCLA aggravated some soreness she had in her ankles over the summer after a similar stumble in last year's national championship. Everyone on Utah's roster was in Athens last year for the champion- ERIK DA£WTZ/Tt>e Deity Utah (hwlde Kristina Baskett competes in the seasonopener versus UCLA. ships except for true freshmen Cor-: tni Beers and Stephanie McAllister." The experience was a valuable one, something Baskett thinks will be a big factor Monday night. "It really helped to have nationals down there last year, so that most of the team knows what it's like—they know it's not our crowd, they know it's a huge rivalry and they know it's going to be tough," Baskett said. "We're more on the positive end this year then we have been in past years." Baskett said she knows that although the win is something she and the Red Rocks will be striving for, the road to their ultimate goat of winning a national championship is a long one. "There is so much out of our control," Baskett said. "But the thing we're confident about is that we can go in there and hit a good meet. We are confident in where we are physically and after the first meet, we're stronger mentally." From past experiences, Utah See GEORGIA Page 7 Football parade today; MUSS applications due The Utah football team produced enough memories in 2008 to last a lifetime, but some say it's already time to start looking forward to participate are asked to wear their MUSS shirts and meet at the staging area today on South Temple and State Street no later than 2:30 p.m. 2009. The parade is celebrating Utah's The MUSS is accepting applica- 13-0 record, No. 2 ranking in the final tions for next year's board until to- AP Polls and a dominating win over day at 5 p.m. SEC powerhouse Alabama. It begins Since its creation in 2002, the at 3 p.m. and will move southbound MUSS has become an essential fac- from the staging area down State" tor in creating an exciting game-day Street and will finish at the Salt Lake, atmosphere at Rice-Eccles Stadium. City-County Building on 500 South From designing MUSS T-shirts and State Street. slogans to introducing traditions Parking is extremely limited and such as the 3rd Down Jump and plan- students and fans are encouraged to ning activities like the MUSS bus, take TRAX. the MUSS board plays an important Tony Pizza role in organizing and managing what has become one of the largest student organizations at Utah. Applications can be found online at www.alumni.utah.edu/muss/mem~ > What: Football Parade bership. The MUSS board consists of > Who: U football fans approximately 30 board members on > When: Today, 3 p.m. a volunteer basis. Information can be found on the downloadable ap> Where: Down State Street, finishplication. ing at the Salt Lake City-County Current MUSS members are also Building on 500 S. State Street invited to participate in the Utah football parade. Those wishing to If you go TYLER COSB/7/i; Dotty Uich (hrcnlde Kalee Whipple and the Utes hope to extend their winning streak and go 4-0 in conference when they play Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colo., on Saturday. GUEST COLUMN We shouldn't forget the accomplishments Utes have made C AMP LIBERTY, Iraq —Too often, the world we live in is a thankless mess and the things we perceive as legacy are forgotten quicker than a college football fan can cry "playoff." When I was 18, the Utes were having one of their finest seasons in school history and their energetic and personable coach was being lauded as a savior. Long before he was fired after the 2002 season, coach Ron "Mac" McBride was considered a genius "up on the hill" and were it not for three poor decisions by players and some terrible officiating in back- DOUCLAS L. YORK to-back games against New Mexico and Air Force, Utah would have gone 12-0 in 1994. Moreover, since the Bowl Championship Series was not in existence yet, the Utes would have won, or at least split, the National Championship that year. Fourteen years later, my beloved "Crimson Warriors" have attained heights never before thought possible and yet their amazing 13-0 accomplishment will forever be tinged by the grotesque farce, the hated enemy of any fan of "Mid-Major" college football—the BCS. With all due respect to the team of that carpetbagging "Urban Legend" coach in Florida, those of us who dwell within the boundaries of our scenic mountains as well as a few pundits brave enough to speak the truth know who this year's real National Champion is. However, with the exodus of some of the Utes' talented underclassmen, along with the departures of this year's seniors, by this time next year, Ute fans old and young might be fighting off the dreaded "What have you done for me lately?" outcry. Just like the last time Utah ran the table and was snubbed for a title shot (circa 2004), I am in the midst of deployment to Iraq. Despite being a lifetime season ticket holder, this year I had to settle for listening to games on the Internet or occasionally having a tape-delayed bone thrown to me by the American Forces Network. Much like with that Alex Smithled team, I have read, heard and followed every so-called expert (aka Ute-hater) rant about how the Utes couldn't do this or wouldn't do that, how they had a weak schedule and couldn't hang with the BCS "big boys." Blah, blah, blah. Bowl teams Alabama, TCU, BYU, Oregon State, Air Force, Colorado State and seven others will tell you the Utes did more than "hang." Despite all of this success, next year is certain to be a let-down season even if the Utes end up 10-3,beat the Team Down South again and are winners of a bowl game. As See YORK Page 8 |
