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In announcing the renewal of his school's basketball series with BYU in Provo sometime during the 2017-18 season, Utah athletic director Chris Hill left open the subject of future meetings with the Cougars and other in-state schools.
That opening could lead into Vivint SmartHome Arena, adding a new twist to the Utah-BYU rivalry. Even in the years when the Cougars and Utes did not meet one another downtown, it would be fun to have them appear in the same building against Utah State and Weber State.
Hill's statement about the Utes "formulating plans for the future with BYU" and "looking at future matchups with other in-state schools" gained some clarity later Thursday, as initially reported by 1280 The Zone. During the final stop of the annual Aggie Caravan at Hidden Valley Country Club in Sandy, USU basketball coach Tim Duryea and athletic director John Hartwell mentioned a one-day, four-team event in Salt Lake City, potentially to be launched in the 2017-18 season.
Following his address to boosters, Hartwell declined to comment further to The Salt Lake Tribune, citing the preliminary nature of discussions among the four schools and arena management.
If it comes together, the annual doubleheader likely would feature rotating opponents over a three-year period. A similar event is staged every year in Iowa, although the format is restricted because Drake and Northern Iowa both belong to the Missouri Valley Conference. So the Bulldogs and Panthers meet Iowa and Iowa State in alternating seasons in the Big 4 Classic in Des Moines. Longtime rivals Iowa and ISU maintain a separate home-and-home schedule, meeting once a year.
Because they are booked to play in Provo in the 2017-18 season, BYU and Utah wouldn't meet at Vivint until one of the following two years.
The event would help fulfill Utah's pledge to play two-in-state opponents every season, as president David Pershing promised in January, when the school announced the cancellation of the 2016 game at BYU. The Utes are expected to fill one slot with Weber State in 2016-17, leaving another opening for Southern Utah or Utah Valley.
The remaining issue is how Utah and BYU would treat the rivalry in the years when they didn't meet at Vivint, whether or not they would maintain a home-and-home schedule in the other two seasons. Something would be lost, obviously, if the teams stopped playing in campus arenas.
Personally, as much as I endorse the rivalry games, I would settle for three Utah-BYU meetings every five years — home, home and neutral — as the in-state event takes shape. Watching the Utes and Cougars play consecutive games, not necessarily against one another, would be better than not having them get together at all.
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