This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

There should be traffic.

There should be traffic either off University Avenue in Orem or Center Street in Provo or off 600 South in Salt Lake City or off Foothill Drive out of Parley's Canyon. There should be those silly flags rolled up into the backseat window and confusing license plates attempting to prod and demean the opposition.

Instead of playing BYE this week, Utah should be playing BYU. Instead of having hosted Houston on Sept. 11, the Cougars should have hosted the Utes, letting the contradicting colors of the suddenly dormant rivalry run together on such a significant day.

Instead, the state's top rivalry — the family-separator, the friend-splitter, the Holy of Holies — is inactive in 2014 and 2015. Place blame everywhere.

Place it on Utah for somehow thinking Fresno State should be in its equation for the next two years rather than the tougher and familiar Cougars. Place it on BYU for not forcing the issue more and strengthening its vanilla independent schedule. Place blame on both fan bases.

Many Utes fans, forever riding their high of a four-game winning streak against the Cougars, feel they're above BYU now, that their arrival in the Pac-12 means they don't need the validation of facing the Team Down South anymore.

Validation is always needed. When it comes to one of the more storied rivalries in college football, it's a necessity. Utah and BYU transcends what transpires on the field, in the tailgating lot or in traffic.

It finds the attention of those who don't really care about either team, both here in the Beehive State and outside it.

You invite people over for a barbecue, a get-together typically centered around Utah vs. BYU. You don't invite people over for Utah-Idaho State or BYU-Connecticut.

"SportsCenter" finds a way to work Utah-BYU highlights into its Saturday night telecast. Utah-Fresno State? BYU-Houston? Hopefully not.

Not having this game for two years is hard to fathom. Although Utah and BYU are no longer in the same conference, no longer play on the last week of the season — which should also be amended, by the way — the rivals should still play annually because Utah-Colorado isn't happening. The measurement of what the rivalry represents to the demographic is importance.

It's something to talk about. It's bragging rights for a 12-month cycle. It's inscribing another chapter, adding on to what is the most-discussed sports topic in Utah.

There should be talk about Utah's defense game-planning for the human tank Taysom Hill. There should be talk of Cougars trying to know what it's like to beat the Utes. There should have been a Utah-BYU game Saturday sometime.

There should have been traffic.