This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Some smart dude once said: "Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he never will be disappointed."

That smart dude wasn't a college football fan.

The way college football fans figure it, it'd be worse to expect nothing than to be disappointed. If you don't expect anything, then, man, you suck. Nobody wants to suck. That's just one of the reasons college football fans, probably more than any other kind of fans in America, and second only to soccer fans globally, are as arrogant and defensive, as happy and angry, as passionate and obnoxious, as all-fired sure and desperate, as eager and miserable as they are. It's because they bag hope and anticipation, they view those things as beneath them, sending them packing, and they embrace expectation, knowing what will come, if things just happen the way they should.

And, so, the 2015 season is a few days away, with the two big schools along the Wasatch Front starting against marquee programs — Utah has Michigan at home and BYU has Nebraska on the road — and everyone around here is expecting something, probably something more than what should be expected.

It's not that those expectations won't be fulfilled. They might. They could. It's just not completely healthy for enthusiasts to tether their identity to the successes and failures or, maybe even worse, the no man's land in-between the two edges. It could be that the smart dude is smarter — or at least enjoying a better mental state — than, as they would say down in the SEC, all y'all.

That said, I took an informal survey of Utah and BYU fans to identify where their expectations fall.

The composite Ute expectation was this: Take a step forward from last time around. Utah made impressive headway in the challenging Pac-12, finishing 5-4, and overall at 9-4, during a season in which almost every meaningful game was a heart attack.

Even with the progress, following a bracket of 5-7 seasons, and three straight years in which the Utes finished a combined 9-18 in the Pac-12, nobody's looking any other way but up. The reason for that can be traced to more than human nature.

If the Utes could accomplish what they did last season, with an offense that was compromised — it finished last in Pac-12 passing, gaining fewer than half the yards passed for by the league leader — it's easy to entertain — or, in this case, expect — better results with not just a more balanced attack, but a more complete one.

Everyone looks to Devontae Booker to continue on as one of the best running backs in the country because that's exactly what he is. He rushed for more than 1,500 yards last season and could get 2,000 this fall. If the passing game comes around, he'll get those yards without having to haul the mail a lot more often.

Co-offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick, who will call the plays, said he plans on utilizing the entire field this season, putting pressure on defenses to account for all the Ute skill players, not just loading defenders in the box to stop the guy lined up in the backfield. He said the Ute O was "conservative" last time, relying on a strong defense and stellar special teams to attend not just to good field position, but to scoring points. This time, he indicated the offense will join the party.

That's certainly the expectation from the fans. It's the only way the Utah program will excel in a division and in a conference that is stacked with talented teams. So, with a wall of a defense returning, as well as punter Tom Hackett and kicker Andy Phillips, folks are expecting all that goodness to remain the same, with the added bonus of a more potent offense. That, along with a seven-game home schedule, means more wins. Expected regular-season record, according to the survey of bright-eyed fans: 9-3, 6-3 in the Pac-12.

BYU fans seem a bit confused, their daubers down, but not their outlook. They reflect back on three straight 8-5 records and look forward to one of the more difficult schedules the Cougars have faced, especially in the month of September, and … well, they want to have those high expectations. They want to believe. They don't want to suck. They want to shoot for the moon, but they're afraid of falling and skidding into the mud.

The absolute center of the expectations they're mustering is … Taysom Hill. They're fully aware of what the Cougars did with him healthy at the start of last season, firing off to a 4-0 start. They seem to remember the feeling they had on the bye week of Sept. 27th, when they had nothing to do but luxuriate in the feeling of an extraordinary season unfolding in front of them. It was almost a flashback to the glory days.

Next thing, Utah State happened. Hill's injury happened. Four straight losses happened, including defeats at home to the Aggies and Nevada. Throw in losses at Central Florida and Boise State, and it was a bit harder to be unrealistic.

With BYU hustling to find inclusion in a P5 league, essentially attempting to legitimize its entire program, it can only beg to have a similar feeling at the end of this September, the Cornhuskers, UCLA, Michigan on the road and Boise State at home having been faced. Welcome to the Utes' world. Later, the Cougars travel to Arrowhead to play Missouri, with a bunch of UConns, East Carolinas, Cincinnatis, Fresno States mixed in. And don't sleep on the Aggies in Logan.

The rather surprising — in spite of the college fan syndrome — survey of Cougar fans said: 9-3. Optimistic expectation in Provo isn't dead, yet. Neither is disappointment.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson