Ogden • For decades, the annual Utah-BYU football rivalry matched in-state schools battling for the same conference championship.

Not this season.

Utah's move to the Pac-12 and BYU's decision to go independent left the state without any four-year colleges belonging to the same league.

For traditionalists, however, Weber State and Southern Utah are coming to the rescue.

SUU joins Weber in the Big Sky Conference, starting in 2012.

The opening act in the state's newest conference rivalry plays out Saturday at 4 p.m., when the Thunderbirds visit Stewart Stadium.

The game won't count in this year's Big Sky standings, since Southern Utah's membership does not start until July 1. But it will be the first of annual battles between the Thunderbirds and Wildcats.

"I think it's going to be a good thing," said Weber State coach Ron McBride. "[We] are going to have some interesting Saturdays, that's for sure. It will not be easy."

Weber is a stable charter member of the Big Sky Conference, which was founded in 1963.

On the other hand, Southern Utah is part of a dramatic expansion of the league, which next season will include 13 football-playing schools stretching from Grand Forks, N.D., to San Luis Obispo, Calif.

For SUU, the move couldn't come at a better time.

The Thunderbirds were spinning their wheels as a football member of the five-team Great West Conference and a basketball member of the far-flung Summit League.

"People, I think, are more excited to see us play Weber State rather than IUPUI," said school president Michael Benson. "… It's a good time for us to move on."

In the Big Sky, Southern Utah joins a respected, tradition-rich Division I basketball conference and one of the best Football Championship Subdivision leagues in the country.

Coach Ed Lamb call the Big Sky "a consortium of schools that have agreed to make athletics — and football — a priority on campus. SUU really hasn't had that direction. [But] now it's an emphasis and a priority."

He continued: "From where I sit, to know that our university has adopted a philosophy in line with the Big Sky speaks volumes about where the athletic department and the football program are going."

With Weber State and Southern Utah playing in the same conference, it's logical to assume the recruiting battles between the in-state schools will increase.

After all, said SUU athletic director Ken Beazer, Big Sky membership "makes us much more attractive" to high school and junior college prospects, "especially along the Wasatch Front."

But Lamb isn't so sure, at least when it comes to football.

"Initially I thought maybe that would be true — that we'd go head-to-head more with Weber State," he explained. "But the reality is this state has so much talent and so many kids with character that there's plenty to go around."

For Benson, inclusion in the Big Sky translates into something beyond athletics.

"It signals the strides we've made academically," he said. "There used to be talk that maybe we weren't up to snuff. … But in the last seven to 10 years, we've made some significant strides forward."

Let the Southern Utah-Weber State games begin.

luhm@sltrib.com —

The other rivalry

Southern Utah joins in-state rival Weber State in the Big Sky Conference next year.

The teams have played only 17 times over the years in football.

Weber State leads the series, 14-3, heading into Saturday's game at Stewart Stadium. —

Southern Utah at Weber State

P Saturday, 4 p.m.