This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In five years of Pac-12 membership, Utah's baseball team went from worst to first. The basketball team finished second after once being second to last. The softball team has climbed from the bottom of the league to solidly in the middle. The football team tied for first in the Pac-12 South.
Like I've always said, the Utes would have a nice athletic program if they could ever do better in gymnastics.
Breakthroughs in Pac-12 play have made the 2015-16 school year significant for Utah athletics. Yet nothing resonates like a major bowl victory or an NCAA basketball tournament run, which is why 2004-05 remains the true Year of the Ute in my judgment. Fans also say so, to a surprising degree.
In an unscientific Salt Lake Tribune poll, the convergence of a Fiesta Bowl win and Sweet 16 basketball showing made '04-05 the favorite year — with neck-and-neck competition from '08-09, which produced a Sugar Bowl victory and other achievements. The athletic department's '15-16 showing barely registered in the poll, illustrating how much national recognition in the flagship sports of football and basketball matters to everyone.
Amid some debate about how much credit Utah deserves for a tie for first in its football division (not qualifying for the championship game), the Utes clearly have enjoyed growth in this conference. Athletic director Chris Hill often observes that being good in the Pac-12 usually makes a team relevant nationally. Ute softball is a perfect example, finishing fourth in the league and making the NCAA super regionals this month.
The irony, then, is that Mountain West membership gave the Utes just as much of a platform to make national impact in football and basketball as this conference does. So seasons that ended with a Las Vegas Bowl appearance and an NCAA second-round exit were not as memorable as the old days. Mix in the gymnastics team's rare failure to make the Super Six finals, and '15-16 becomes a year that not even a stunning baseball conference championship could elevate to the athletic department's heights of the previous decade.
BYU fans undoubtedly have similar views of their own programs. The Cougars enjoyed a phenomenal year, with eight championships in the West Coast Conference, plus a second-place NCAA finish in men's volleyball and other strong national showings. Yet no way could a year when BYU lost to Utah in a bowl game and missed the NCAA basketball tournament be viewed as fully satisfying.
The state's other Division I schools also did some impressive work in '15-16. Weber State won four Big Sky Conference championships, notably in basketball. Utah State claimed the department's first Mountain West title, in men's tennis. Utah Valley will join Utah in the NCAA baseball field, via a Western Athletic Conference tournament championship. Southern Utah delivered a Big Sky football title, advancing to the 24-team FCS playoffs.
The four-team playoff format in the FBS makes qualifying more much difficult, and even the Pac-12 champion (Stanford) was left out this past season, settling for the Rose Bowl — a weird phrase, certainly. Yet as Utah moves into its second five-year phase of Pac-12 membership, that's the target.
Ute fans are enjoying the weekly competition in the Pac-12, packing Rice-Eccles Stadium and traveling in good numbers to other conference venues. The football program has established itself to a degree that Utah usually will be in the preseason conversation in the South and eventually should win a division title.
The Utes had their chance in 2015. Even after a loss to USC in late October, when the Utes were No. 3 in the AP Top 25, they could have claimed an outright division championship by beating Arizona or UCLA in November. Instead, they tied with USC with 6-3 conference records, and the Trojans advanced to the title game.
As Ute coach Kyle Whittingham said this spring, "Nobody cares about being close. You've got to actually win it."
And that's what it would take Utah to have a genuinely historic year in the school's Pac-12 era.
Twitter: @tribkurt —
Conference champs
2015-16 conference titles for Utah's Division I athletic programs in their primary league of affiliation:
BYU (West Coast) • Men's: cross country, baseball*. Women's: cross country, soccer, volleyball, basketball*, softball, golf.
Southern Utah (Big Sky) • Men's: cross country, football.
Utah (Pac-12) • Men's: baseball.
Utah State (Mountain West) • Men's: tennis.
Utah Valley (Western Athletic) • Men's: cross country, baseball. Women's: cross country.
Weber State (Big Sky) • Men's: basketball, tennis. Women's: cross country, softball.
* - Regular-season title; lost in conference tournament