Patrick Kinahan: BYU, Utah together again provides Big 12 sizzle

SALT LAKE CITY — As conference realignment continues to kill off rivalries in college football, Big 12 expansion has resurrected one heated annual game that had been reduced to a sporadic series.

The Big 12 decision to gobble up four Pac-12 programs puts BYU and Utah back in the same conference for the first time since the Utes left the Mountain West and the Cougars became an independent in football after the 2010 season. In the span of a several hours earlier this month, during which the Pac-12 lost the nucleus of its members, Utah's decision to find a new home restored a rivalry that has more than 100 years of history.

Beginning in the 2024 season, the rivalry game returns in a conference setting — hopefully, anyway. Hallelujah.

Forget the vocal minority that has raised a stink about reuniting both teams in the same conference. The game is great for the state, drawing attention to the two big-time football programs.

For decades, as members of the Western Athletic and Mountain West conferences, BYU and Utah finished the regular season in relative obscurity compared to the attention-grabbing headlines during the traditional rivalry week each year in late November. The Big 12 platform absolutely will generate substantially more publicity than the WAC and MWC ever received.

"I'm a lifelong fan of this university," Utah president Taylor Randall said at the introductory press conference announcing the new conference affiliation. "And I know we're going to get questions about the renewed rivalry with Brigham Young University. For me, it's always been fun. We're looking forward to that. We've appreciated the way we've worked together over the years when we've not been in the same conference. We're certainly looking forward to the years where we will be."

Amen.

As it stands, pending potentially more expansion after adding eight programs the last two years, the Big 12 will become a 16-member conference next summer. The latest round of additions, bringing in four Pac-12 teams, gives the conference a much-needed form of identity.

Without Utah, Arizona State, Arizona and Colorado, the Big 12 seemed like a mishmash of programs scattered around the country. The four universities included two years ago — BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and South Florida — added value and stability, but didn't offer much in the way of individual sizzle.

Losing the two marque programs — Texas and Oklahoma officially join the Southeastern Conference next summer — left the Big 12 devoid of any natural rivalries that help keep the interest in college football humming. Instantly, the so-called four-corner schools gives the Big 12 two important in-state rivalry games and the attention-demanding Deion Sanders at Colorado.

"The league had taken a hit in rivalry games," longtime college football broadcaster Tim Brando said during an interview on The Zone. "The Holy War is special ... but that's also a game that resonates outside the mountain west footprint. I think that game, Utah and BYU being a conference game for the Big 12, is really going to be beneficial (along with) the Arizona/Arizona State game as well. More eyeballs will be watching the game."

With multiple possibilities to explore, the conference likely is still several months away to releasing the composite 2024 football schedule. But surely, if commissioner Brett Yormark and the other decision-makers have any clue, the two in-state rival games will be played during the final week of the regular season.

And no exceptions, both games have to be scheduled every season. For logistical purposes, it also makes sense to for all three to also play Colorado annually.

"Think about, BYU and Utah get back in the same conference again," Arizona president Robert Robbins said during the press conference to announce his university's change. "It's always been a rivalry, but now they will be in the same conference."

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