This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It's not just rabid Ute and Cougar fans who think not playing the annual Utah/BYU football rivalry game after 2013 is a bad idea.
The folks at the national sports website Bleacher Report ranked the move as one of the "Dumbest College Football Offseason Moves of 2012."
Bleacher Report's Lafe Peavler calls shenanigans on Utah claims that they only have a few non-conference slots open, especially after the Pac-12 ended its scheduling deal with the Big Ten. Peavler continues:
"In truth, Utah doesn't want to play hated rival BYU anymore because they fear that there's too much to lose and not much to gain by playing the Cougars. They think that a loss to BYU could put bigger things in jeopardy, such as perhaps a national championship bid."
Peavler then compares "the Holy War" to another storied rivalry. "What if USC just up and decided that it no longer wanted to have its rivalry series with Notre Dame? What kind of uproar would there be?," Peavler asked. "BYU may not have the prestige that the Fighting Irish have, but Utah is no USC by any stretch of the imagination."