This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Runnin' Utes have spent the last two seasons in the Pac-12 spotlight while finishing in the top tier of the conference and reaching the NCAA Tournament.

Next season, at least on TV, they'll take a step back from the exposure.

The Pac-12 released its full conference schedule Thursday, and Utah will be on the Pac-12 Networks and Fox Sports 1 more often than last year. Only eight regular season games are scheduled to appear on the ESPN family of networks, http://www.sltrib.com/sports/2935589-155/utah-basketball-pac-12-conference-schedule-set";>or half as many as last season.

It's not surprising: Utah's non-conference schedule has fewer marquee match-ups than the last few seasons, with Xavier (possibly a top 10 opponent next year) ranking as the top foe on paper. Utah is also down an NBA lottery pick http://bit.ly/28WXetb";>after Jakob Poeltl departed. Graduations and transfers have made http://bit.ly/2akhyTU";>the 2016-17 Utes more of an unknown quantity, particularly from a television perspective.

Make sure you get Pac-12 Networks: Utah has 18 games on the league's channels. Up to six games will appear on ESPNU, four games will appear on Fox Sports 1, and only one at the moment — a Feb. 16 match-up with Oregon — will land on either ESPN2 or ESPN (though if Utah reaches the Diamond Head Classic final, it will be on ESPN2).

There's perks to being a lower-profile Pac-12 team, particularly for fans of Thursday-Saturday schedules (there's six such weekends for the Utes) and those who hate Sunday games. Utah is playing only twice on Sunday, and only one of those games is at the Huntsman Center when the Pac-12 schedule opens up New Year's Day against Colorado.

Last year, the Utes played only three times on Saturday in league games, and six times on Sunday.

Utah has only one game apiece with the Arizona schools and the Los Angeles schools, travelling to Arizona/Arizona State and hosting UCLA and USC. They face all four of those opponents in the first five games of conference play.

Here's the schedule — all times Mountain:

Tues., Oct. 18 • Night with the Runnin' Utes, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Sat., Nov. 12 • Northwest Nazarine, TBD (Pac-12 Networks)
Tues., Nov. 15 • Concordia, 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Fri., Nov. 18 • Coppin State, 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Fri., Nov. 25 • UC Riverside, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Mon, Nov. 28 • Butler, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Thurs., Dec. 1 • Montana State, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Tues., Dec. 6 • Utah Valley, 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Sat., Dec. 10 • at Xavier, TBD (TBD)
Sat., Dec. 17 • Prairie View A&M, 4 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Thurs., Dec. 22 • vs. San Francisco*, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)
Fri., Dec. 23 • vs. Hawaii or Illinois State*, 8 or 10:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Sun., Dec. 25 • TBD* (ESPN2/ESPNU)
Sun., Jan. 1 • Colorado, 4:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Thurs., Jan. 5 • at Arizona, 8 p.m. (FS1)
Sat., Jan. 7 • at Arizona State, 3 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Thurs., Jan. 12 • USC, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Sat., Jan. 14 • UCLA, 4 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Wed., Jan. 18 • at Washington State, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Sat., Jan. 21 • at Washington, 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Thurs., Jan. 26 • Oregon, 8:30 p.m. (FS1)
Sat., Jan. 28 • Oregon State, 5 p.m (Pac-12 Networks)
Thurs., Feb. 2 • at California, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Sat., Feb. 4 • at Stanford, 2:30 p.m. (FS1)
Thurs., Feb. 9 • Washington State, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
Sat., Feb. 11 • Washington, 2:30 p.m. (FS1)
Thurs., Feb. 16 • at Oregon, 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
Sun., Feb. 19 • at Oregon State, 6:30 (ESPNU)
Thurs., Feb. 23 • at Colorado, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)
Thurs., March 2 • California, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sat., March 4 • Stanford, 2 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks)
March 8-11 • Pac-12 Tournament, Las Vegas
*Diamond Head Classic, Honolulu, Hawaii

kgoon@sltrib.com
Twitter: @kylegoon