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As intense and as popular as the rivalry game is between Utah and BYU, there is no guarantee the two schools will meet in the future, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham and Utah athletic director Chris Hill said.

The two programs agreed on a home-and-home series in 2010 for 2011 and 2012, but the future of the rivalry is uncertain beyond those seasons.

The Utes say they want the rivalry to continue, but at the same time believe they can't afford to schedule too many difficult non-conference teams plus a challenging Pac-12 schedule, Hill said.

Ideally the Utes will play one difficult game and two that should be less challenging. That one difficult game presumably would be BYU; however, nothing is certain, Hill said.

"We're heading into uncharted territory," he said, referring to Utah's move to the Pac-12 and BYU's role as an independent.

Whittingham noted rumors continue for conference realignments, which could further complicate matters.

This week, reports indicate Oklahoma is interested in joining the Pac-12. Oklahoma State and Texas could join the league, too.

"With all the realignments taking place and what could transpire, I'm not sure we'll continue to play or not, I can't tell you," Whittingham said. "Ideally, a rivalry around this long that is so intense and competitive, you'd like to see it continue. Will it? That is anybody's guess."

Close calls

Are you still not over that nail-biter of a loss at USC the Utes endured? Get used to it; there might be a lot more endings like that one in the future.

Whittingham predicted as much this week as the Utes prepare for BYU, traditionally one of Utah's closest games.

Five of the last six meetings have been decided by a touchdown or less.

Traditionally the Utah-BYU game was a season finale of a schedule that featured maybe two or three difficult games mixed in with contests against other teams that hovered just around the .500 mark.

The records might not be that much different in the Pac-12, but the competition is, Whittingham said.

"The margin for error week in and week out is paper thin," he said. "I'm not taking anything away from the Mountain West Conference; there is good football in the Mountain West, but it's a different ballgame now. It's essentially a bowl game every week, and we have big challenges ahead of us. The team understands that, and we'll keep working hard and fight our way through it."

Sticking with Marsh

Whittingham said Nick Marsh will punt Saturday for the Utes instead of Sean Sellwood, who was replaced by Marsh in that role for the USC game. Four of Marsh's seven punts were downed inside the 20-yard line, with an average of 40.9 yards per punt.

"We felt Nick out-kicked Sean and he did a nice job, he earned the right to punt," Whittingham said of the change.