SALT LAKE CITY — It’s rivalry week in the state of Utah. The big game is back, and Utah and BYU fans are in full swing, taking jabs at one another and making predictions for Saturday’s game.

Does it matter that this might be the least important meeting the two schools have ever had on the football field?

Let me explain.

This will be the 97th meeting between the two teams, between 1922, and 2010, each game the two teams played against one another had conference standing implications, with the exception of a three-year span in the mid-40s when World War II prevented the game from being played. Naturally, a game impacting conference standings trumps a game between two teams in separate conferences, or in BYU’s case, independent of a conference all together. The teams played six times before 1922, splitting the games 3-3.

Beyond bragging rights, there’s very little at stake in Saturday’s game. Win or lose, Utah’s attention will quickly turn to the upcoming Pac-12 season. After another nonconference game against San Jose State, the Utes gear up for what appears to be a beatable USC team. The Utes' goal of winning the conference title simply doesn’t include BYU.

In five years of independence, Utah has traditionally been one of the premier games on BYU’s schedule. While the match-up with Utah is still important as the Cougars try to prove they can compete with Power 5 conference opponents, the rest of BYU’s schedule is littered with high-profile teams. With UCLA, West Virginia, Michigan State and Mississippi State still on the docket, Kalani Sitake’s group has plenty of opportunities to cut its teeth against upper-echelon programs.

While the Utes still elicit the most emotional response from Cougar fans, games against UCLA, Michigan State and Mississippi State may serve a higher profile. Whereas in years past as an independent team, BYU hoped for a season worthy of a New Year's Six Bowl game, but the Cougars' schedule makes that unlikely this year.

After clearing hurdles like Texas and Houston in 2014, BYU appeared poised for a run worthy of national attention before an injury to quarterback Taysom Hill derailed those plans. This year, with a series of games against some of the top teams in college football, an undefeated season is unlikely.

This is also likely the first season when going undefeated won’t affect BYU’s chances of moving on to brighter things in college football. Since moving to independence, the Cougars have had their eye on the Big 12 expansion and an undefeated season, and an appearance in a New Year’s Six bowl game would have bolstered their candidacy for conference expansion.

As talks have heated up in the Big 12, it appears expansion is imminent, and may be decided on before the end of the season. Regardless of BYU’s finish, its football fate may have already been determined.

This will be the earliest meeting between the two teams outside of the first contest — a scrimmage the teams played in April 1896. College football is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately sport, and with the first College Football Playoff rankings not being released until the first week of November, this week’s rivalry game will be ancient history.

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Much to be desired for Utah ahead of BYU game

It was Utah’s first shutout win over an opponent since the Utes beat Northern Colorado 41-0 in 2012. And yet, there was much to be desired about Utah’s 24-0 win over in-state opponent Southern Utah.

Alabama, last year’s national champion, lost to Ole Miss in Week 3, and still went on to make the College Football Playoff. In 2014, Ohio State lost to Virginia Tech in Week 2 and went on to win the national championship. If Utah were able to put together a season, however unlikely, a Week 2 loss to BYU wouldn’t necessarily eliminate them from playoff contention.

That’s not to say this game doesn’t have implications beyond the two teams final standings. With BYU’s tough upcoming schedule, each win is critical as it fights to make a bowl game in Sitake’s inaugural season.

Utah has won five straight match-ups going back to 2010, its most dominant stretch since before BYU hired LaVell Edwards as head coach in 1972. Edwards’ arrival and win in his first rivalry match-up shifted the momentum in BYU’s favor, winning 19 of the next 21 meetings. A win for Sitake, though unlikely to change the winds so drastically, could reverse the momentum Utah has built up under Kyle Whittingham.

It will also help in recruiting. Utah had one of its best recruiting classes this past offseason, winning most of the head-to-head recruiting battles with BYU. A win in BYU’s favor could pave the way for tighter in-state recruiting battles.

There’s also an argument to be made that this is the most important rivalry game the two have played.

With the game mattering less on the field than it ever has before, establishing a positive culture with an entertaining game, between two coaches that like each other could ensure the health of the rivalry, that’s no longer essential for either team. While the teams are scheduled to meet through the year 2020, the next few meetings will likely determine whether the game extends beyond that.

On the field, Saturday’s game may be the least important fans have seen in the history of the rivalry. For the future of the rivalry, it might be the most important. Either way, it’s good to have the game back, enjoy it while you can.

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