VOD Not Available
This video is not available.
The Utah Utes are emerging as one of the Pac-12's strongest assets, just a handful of years removed from being added to the conference.
October 20, 2015
In June 2010, when the Pac-12 was rumored to be on the verge of a megadeal to add six Big 12 schools – including Texas and Oklahoma – to a conference of just ten schools, the possibilities for the rumored super conference seemed to be endless. Many thought, including myself, that the league could even give the SEC a run for its money.
Then Texas got offered the opportunity to start its own television network if it stayed in the Big 12. And the other five schools thought to be a part of the deal followed the lone star all the way back home to the Big 12 as well.
The Pac-12 ended up adding Colorado and Utah – not exactly supernovas in the universe of college football.
Sure, Utah had a string of impressive seasons leading up to joining the Pac-12 – including a few wins over teams in the conference and a victory over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl – but it was hard to see the promise in a team that wasn’t accustomed to playing a Power Five schedule. It was tough embracing Utah when grand visions of a school like Texas, which won the Big 12 and made it to the BCS National Championship Game in its season leading up to the merger discussions, were being tossed around.
Fast forward to this year and Utah has emerged as one of the Pac-12’s strongest assets, in football and basketball. Not only did the Utes make it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, they are currently the nation’s No. 3 team in this week’s AP poll.
Utah is the conference’s highest ranked team, the only remaining undefeated one, and is sitting above every SEC school in the polls.
In hindsight, when the Pac-12 was making the decision to bring in Utah, it was adding a program that could help give the Southeastern Conference, as well as the three other Power Five conferences, a run for its money. We just didn’t know the Utes were that team at the time.