Utes mailbag: Will Whittingham coach in Big 12? How will conference set up divisions?

SALT LAKE CITY — There are a great many things to consider now that the University of Utah will leave the Pac-12 and begin play in the Big 12 a little over a year from now.

How might the head football coach feel about the move, and how that might affect his retirement timeline is certainly on the list after Friday's realignment circus came to a head.

We're going to start this Utah Utes mailbag right there.

Q: "How does this affect Kyle Whittingham's plans? After spending a decade climbing the Pac-12 mountain, does he want to start all over in a new conference in his last few years, or does this provide a perfect break to retire at the end of next year?" - @realGlennCoco

Good, obvious question that was bound to come up as Whittingham isn't getting any younger, and his eventual retirement is bandied about each December.

For starters, this does not represent starting all over. Going from the Mountain West to the Pac-12 in 2011 was a monstrous leap in terms of facilities, recruiting, talent, and depth. It took the Utes a few years to get caught up and really competitive in the conference. Going from the Pac-12 to the Big 12, you have the facilities, and your recruiting, talent, and depth has never been better. Utah could theoretically be a top-3 team in the Big 12 in 2024.

I do agree that moving to a new conference does feel like an opportunity for Whittingham to walk away and hand the keys to someone else, but we're not going to know what his plans are until at least bowl prep in a few months, and honestly, that's probably too early.

I really thought Whittingham might retire after 2021, but he did not. I did not think he was walking away after 2022, but I wouldn't have been surprised if he did. We'll see what happens this season, but all things being equal, I think Whittingham wants a crack at a 12-team College Football Playoff, which begins in 2024.

Also, do not discount the fact that Whittingham is still owed a generational amount of money on his contract.

Q: "With a conference rebrand, could the Utes consider changing from UA?" - @WiltzUte

As far as I'm concerned, one thing has nothing to do with the other, but I understand your point. New beginnings with the Big 12 should coincide with new beginnings in terms of Utah's apparel situation.

Well, settle in.

The current Utah-Under Armour deal goes through June 2027 and, if I'm reading the contract correctly, UA has the right of first refusal on an extension. Utah can't start negotiating with a different apparel company until Nov. 2026, more than two years after the Utes begin play in the Big 12.

The current 10-year, $65 million agreement sort of feels like a bargain for UA by modern standards, while athletic director Mark Harlan has been public in his stance that the deal has been hugely beneficial for his athletic department and its student-athletes.

At this time, I do not envision Utah and Under Armour breaking up when it comes to time to re-up the relationship.

Q: "Thoughts on how the conference gets divided up?" - @CyclingUte22

We should note here that there is nothing definitive yet as to whether or not a 16-team Big 12 will be broken up into two 8-team divisions, although that has been the assumption since things became official Friday evening. The Big 12 has not had football divisions since 2010, when Nebraska won the North and Oklahoma won the South.

If the conference goes to divisions, the two obvious options are East and West, or North and South. Of course, geography in college athletics means nothing at this point, but I think it makes the most sense to go East and West. From a Western perspective, it would at least offer some regionality, not to mention some familiar faces.

Big 12 East: Central Florida, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Houston

Big 12 West: Utah, BYU, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor

A proper North-South alignment would still have Utah in the same division as BYU and Colorado, but it would likely lose both Arizona schools in favor of at least West Virginia and Cincinnati, which would be silly.

I know we have already crossed the silliness threshold with this whole realignment situation, so I digress.

Where does Utah fit with its move to Big 12 in 2024?

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark declared his conference "open for business" in July 2022. And it worked.

Q: "What happens to the nonconference schedule in 2024? We had games with Baylor and BYU?" - @JamesfromUtah

Yep.

Utah has six nonconference games with BYU (2024-28, 2030), one with Baylor (2024) and two with Houston (2026-27) that are now scratched because they are conference games. That's a bit of an issue because, as we all know, nonconference games in college football are scheduled years, even a decade or more, in advance.

The immediate scheduling needs are in 2024 when Utah was supposed to host both BYU and Baylor. I genuinely look forward to seeing how this gets worked out. I see that Weber State has openings early in the 2024 season, so that's one option I suppose.

Personally, I think the move here is to figure this out at the FCS level, because you already know you're playing (presumably) nine Big 12 games against teams and venues you're mostly not familiar with. No need to load up in the nonconference knowing what's coming behind that.

There was already one opening in 2025, but make that two now thanks to another BYU game. College football scheduling is a weird deal.

Q: "Does this move mean Utah has to start taking men's basketball seriously again?" - @utahfootballgm

This is going to be a thing for the next year-plus, talking about Utah men's hoops, which has struggled in the Pac-12 but is now methodically taking steps under Craig Smith, stepping up a couple of weight classes into what has absolutely been the best conference in the country the last couple of years.

There is a lot to get into with this, and I'm not going to waste every thought or idea in this space, but here's two: The talent level under Smith has to improve; and in the Big 12, Smith has to loosen up on his tightly-held mantra of wanting to build a program and a culture from the ground up.

The NCAA Transfer Portal needs to be the No. 1 priority in recruiting, and I point to Iowa State as an example. Third-year Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger is 41-27 with two trips to the NCAA Tournament, including a Sweet 16 in 2022, with rosters full of transfers.

Smith's 2024-25 roster currently has two open scholarships and that team is projected to be upperclassman-heavy, but my point remains. Trying to slow-burn this program into a contender is not going to cut it anymore once Utah changes conferences.

Q: What tier do you put Utah football in with the Big 12? Who are their biggest threats for conference titles each year?

On paper, I would put Utah in the Big 12's top tier, but the real question is, how many teams are in the Big 12's top tier?

I don't think anyone would argue Baylor, nor do I think anyone would argue TCU. Make fun of Mike Gundy all you want, but Oklahoma State has finished tied for third or better nine times in 12 seasons since the Big 12 did away with divisions. I think you also have to put Kansas State in this class, which won the Big 12 championship game last season in Chris Klieman's fourth season.

At least at the outset, those four teams are who will be in the way for Utah, which has enough talent to walk in the door as a contender, but may have an unsettled quarterback situation with Cam Rising done after this season.

Q: "For the CBB sickos out there, how will the Big 12 handle the conference tournament with 16 teams? Use the traditional format and make your best teams win four games in four days, or some convoluted, double play-in game type of situation?" - @bsamtown

You and I might be the only two crazies to even consider this once everything went down on Friday night.

You need to reward your best teams, which means you're not going to make them play four games in four nights. That would be the path of least resistance, sure, but yeah, we're going double-byes for the first time at the Big 12 Tournament.

First round is 9 vs. 16 (winner gets No. 8 the next day in the second round), 10 vs. 15 (winner gets No. 7), 11 vs. 14 (winner gets No. 6), and 12 vs. 13 (winner gets No. 5). The top-four seeds will have received double-byes, debuting in the quarterfinals. It's a little bit convoluted, but that's really the only option if we're discarding the four games in four days plan.

On topic, the Big 12 Tournament has called Kansas City home for most of its existence, with T-Mobile Center signed on to host through 2027. I wonder if Brett Yormark would consider a two- or three-year trial run in Las Vegas now there are some Western teams in the league. I feel like that might be a bad idea since the event does draw in Kansas City, but it's at least something to think about.

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