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Show 2 INSIDE SPORTS November 2010 Will conference realignment change rivalry? » 4 Coaches play both sides of Holy War» 6 Which team has the edge? » 8 www.dailyutahchronicle.corn Century-old animosity won't die easily ating back to the late 1800s, Utah and BYU have been like brothers. Brothers locked in a fierce rivalry, but brothers nonetheless. After all, since BYU joined Utah in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 1918, the two schools have followed each other throughout the years. In 1938, they abandoned the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference together to help form the Skyline Conference. They left that conference 24 years later to form the Western Athletic Conference. And finally, in 1999, they dropped the WAC and became charter members of the D with other sports going to the West Coast Conference. Instead of late November football games with conference title implications, the game will now be played in September and serve to prepare Utah for its conference schedule. For BYU, it will be another matchup on a schedule of 12 equally weighted games. The football game should still carry meaning aside from bragging rights for BYU, because of how the Bowl Championship Series is set up. If the Cougars lose, their shot at a BCS game is blasted to bits in the first month of the season, and a loss for the Utes will erase any hope of a national title. In basketball, where the schools BUBBA BROWN StaffWriter Mountain West Conference. Although the two schools might not like each other, total the years up, and it equals nearly a century of athletic partnership. Of course, that's all going to change next year when Utah joins the Pac-io and BYU goes independent in football will play just one game per season at alternating venues, the games become almost meaningless, at least as far as deciding where each team will end up at the end of the season. Losing one nonconference game means almost nothing in basketball. BYU's contests with Gonzaga and St. Mary's will decide the overall success of their seasons. Likewise, for Utah, dates with UCLA, Arizona and Washington will matter far more than the BYU game. Does that mean the rivalry will die or smolder into something smaller? The guess here is that the rivalry will get along fine. You can't erase a century of history and bad blood just because the schools don't compete in the same conference. Sure, there won't be conference titles on the line, but it's still BYU and Utah. Families will still be divided. Utah fans will still call BYU fans self-righteous. BYU fans will still call Utah fans godless. And yes, beer will probably still get tossed on BYU players' families. These schools didn't like each other in 1895 when a bench-clearing baseball brawl effectively started the rivalry, and they don't like each other now And as long as they compete athletically, nothing is going to change that. Even if the brothers no longer stand together. bubba@chronicle.utah.edu Late season turnaround Vegas: no After early losses, BYU is making a comeback son that I wasn't sure (bowl eligibility) was going to happen," Mendenhall said. "It seemed pretty daunting to be able to recover our team. It has taken a lot of work, a lot of effort, and a lot of heart, and a lot of prayer, and a lot of just leadership from our coaches, but also our players." With a 40-7 win over New Mexico on Saturday, BYU's confidence is at a season high heading to Salt Lake City to take on a Utah team that has been struggling. The 6-5 Cougar climb back into bowl eligibility has given Mendenhall plenty to focus on this season and little time to follow the Utes. "Our own particular season has been remarkably consuming, and to say I don't know who wins or loses is false," Mendenhall said. "But in terms of following (the Utes), I don't. I'm not even sure what Utah's record is, but the expectations for both programs are different now, so that definitely plays a factor for our next game. That last game for both of us will make our season." Mendenhall and Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham were hired at their respective schools in 2004, and Mendenhall holds a 3-2 record over Whittingham. One thing Mendenhall is sure of is that his school's history and the things it has accomplished have stood out above all other schools in the Corbin Godfrey STAFF WRITER After a 1-4 start to BYU's season, becoming bowl-eligible seemed like something that would have to wait until next year. But the Cougars didn't want to wait that long and have won five of their past six games, flourishing at just the right time to finish up their final season in the Mountain West Conference against struggling arch rival Utah. "We are peaking at the right time," said freshman quarterback Jake Heaps. Heaps has taken over the reins to the Cougars' offense and will play in the Holy War for the first time Saturday. Not only is BYU playing its best football of the season on its way to a four-game winning streak, but it has also been building more confidence as the season progresses. During their past three games, the Cougars have been nothing short of dominant. Although it has been against three of the conference's four worst teams, BYU is averaging 48 points per contest and has outscored its opponents, 1 44-24. If you would have asked head coach Bronco Mendenhall seven weeks ago, when his team was 1-4, if he thought bowl eligibility was in his team's immediate future, you probably wouldn't have gotten an encouraging answer. "There was a time this sea- C= C= place for Cougars CORBIN GODFREY StaffWriter T he Mountain West Conference won't be the only thing BYU separates itself from after the 2010 season. After five straight appearances in the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas, formally known as the Las Vegas Bowl, in which it has a 3-2 record, the Cougars streak will come to an end. After the 2010 season, BYU will never have to play a postseason in Sin City again as the game only features schools from the Pac-io and Mountain West conferences. There can only be one thing both BYU coaches, players and fans are all thinking— phew. No more dealing with the place that seems to taunt everything the school's Honor Code is against: pre-marital sex, gambling, pornography, smoking, immodest clothing and alcohol. It all blends together like the vision of a drunken Elvis impersonator under the city's furious lights. There isn't a hotel in town that doesn't smell like smoke or a place where the screams of frantic gamblers can't be heard. During the day, people roam around like zombies with the previous night's events written all over their faces, all while trying to recuperate in time to do it again. It's the kind of place where the price of any flavored drink is less than that of water, and any alcoholic drink is half the price of that. It's the kind of place where glow sticks PHOTO COURTESY ASSOCIATED PRESS BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall yells at his players during an August practice. Mendenhall holds a 3-2 record over the U's coach in the Holy War. cide just whose reflection shines in the rear view of one of the highest regarded rivalries in college football, and BYU couldn't have chosen a better time to hit its stride. MWC. "From the time the league began, no one has won more league games than us," Mendenhall said. "And I think that definitely reflects positively on our program." Saturday's game will de- c.godfrey@ chronicle.utah.edu See VEGAS Page 10 CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT TIMELINE JUNE 7— PAC-10 APPROVES POTENTIAL EXPANSION The Pac-10 officially announces its intentions to expand the conference. The conference would be split in two divisions and hold a championship game. Invites went to Colorado, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M to turn the conference into a 16-team"super conference •7 • JUNE 11— BOISE STATE JUNE 14—TEXAS STAYS IN BIG-12 Texas announces it will weather the storm and stay put in the Big-12.This all but put to rest the idea of any other Big-12 schools joining the Pac-10 because of the school's pull both in revenue and national recognition. The remaining teams in the Big-12 followed suit to preserve rivalries as well as revenue. JOINS MWC On the same day Nebraska bolted for the Big-10, Boise State University announces its intentions to join the Mountain West Conference. BSU looked to quiet critics that said it played a weak schedule as part of the WAC. The move put BSU in the MWC with BYU, TCU and Utah, for the time being. JUNE 10— COLORADO 1 _ -; • • I JOINS PAC-1 0 Colorado became the first school to take the plunge into conference realignment. Colorado announced that it would be leaving the Big-12 for the Pac-10, leaving the Big-12 with 11 teams in the conference. • • . 'M 4. .1# :421:4; .1 .4 • t. L • - , .1, • -,, . -I,: f., - k• ..i.k, , •- 11.1.416 .5.1.. • • : • 1. • •. ••. • • • • ...• y •• • •• •• •• • v•„ •• •• O • •_ . . .„ • • • ' • . • • ti , 1. .e tt, 'S. . t: ;• 2 .1 • • .-11. •• *. • .4! • , ,1611 31.-4 • . % • 641 •• -A.alx,4214,.f 6. 100 1 'r ' F • a. • • „. Pnr. 1, it. • - - r • 1_ - _._ a * •••6• ' . • I t. • *,} • 6 11/- ' • •- • . .1" L .! ( -• AUG. 31— BYU ANNOUNCES INDEPENDANCE After hearing Utah's plans to join the Pac-10, BYU decides to leave the sinking ship of the MWC, except the Cougars would be leaving for conference independence. The move would allow BYU to have complete control over its schedule. BYU became the fourth program in the country to be independent of conference affiliation, joining Army, Navy and Notre Dame. :t, VIA • 7 • ... • JUNE 17 - UTAH JOINS PAC-10 PLAN TO JOIN BIG-10 Nebraska makes the same move as Colorado only a day later, except the Cornhuskers would be leaving the Big-12 for the Big-10 rather than the Pac-10. With the future of the Big-12 in question, Nebraska got out while the getting was good and became the 12th team in the Big-10. . 411`.. • -1/4 -I JUNE 11 - NEBRASKA ANNOUNCES • irrt 0 • • , o 41. a • • , • ' ; ,'. .' ,,...- 1‘ ,-.: .. • 4,4, . . , N. • 1' • • With no possibility of becoming a 16-team conference, the Pac-10 extends an invite to Utah in order to preserve hopes of becoming a 12-team conference. The move would allow the conference to split into North and South divisions and leave BSU in the dust, considering the school joined the MWC to play Utah each year. Utah planned to join the conference in 2011, allowing it to become part of a conference with an automatic bid to the Bowl Championship Series. bti • |