Utes Finally Give Home Fans a Schedule to Cheer About
The Utes unveiled their home schedule today, and it's every bit as enticing as we expected.
Oregon.
Cal.
Gonzaga.
LSU.
Those are just four of the seven non-conference opponents that will visit the Huntsman Center next season, and there's only one slouch among the others -- Southwest Baptist in the season-opener on Nov. 15. The Utes also will play Oklahoma on the road, in a schedule that coach Jim Boylen believes can nudge the Utes into the NCAA Tournament if they win more than 20 games but fail to win the Mountain West Conference tournament in Las Vegas.
"I'm trying to build an elite program," he said.
Obviously, there's some risk involved, if the Utes have scheduled so aggressively that they don't win as many games as they did last season. That's when fans no doubt would forget all about the quality of the opponents and focus only the fact that the Utes strained to beat them.
But the Utes could also wind up getting more credit than they deserve, if you believe that their marquee opponents will bring reputations that outpace their actual talent.
That may not be a huge stretch, considering that Oregon went a modest 18-14 last season and then lost three solid seniors (coach Ernie Kent was already on the hot seat, midway through last season), while Cal has a new coach -- former Utah target Mike Montgomery -- who will be working without superstar forward Ryan Anderson and center DeVon Hardin (both potential first-round NBA Draft picks) after a 17-16 season. LSU finished 13-18 after firing its coach last season, hired Trent Johnson -- another former Utah target -- and watched heralded recruit J'Mison "BoBo" Morgan decide to bail on the Tigers and go to UCLA, instead.
Only Gonzaga was close to an elite team last season, finishing 25-8 and ranking as high as No. 14 in the AP Top 25, but losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to the Davidson team that reached the Elite Eight. Plus, the Zags will have guard Jeremy Pargo back, after the West Coast Conference player of the year withdrew from the NBA Draft.
In any event, the Utes should be applauded for not taking the easy route to 20 wins, like some teams in the Mountain West Conference.
And there's no question that fans will be elated to finally get some value for their ticket purchases, because even a middle-of-the-pack Cal or LSU team is going to be a far better attraction than even the Idaho States and Dixie States of last season, let alone some of the other vastly inferior teams that former coaches invited to the Huntsman Center in previous seasons.
"It's all part of the master plan in my mind ... to get this place back to where it should be," Boylen said.
Oregon.
Cal.
Gonzaga.
LSU.
Those are just four of the seven non-conference opponents that will visit the Huntsman Center next season, and there's only one slouch among the others -- Southwest Baptist in the season-opener on Nov. 15. The Utes also will play Oklahoma on the road, in a schedule that coach Jim Boylen believes can nudge the Utes into the NCAA Tournament if they win more than 20 games but fail to win the Mountain West Conference tournament in Las Vegas.
"I'm trying to build an elite program," he said.
Obviously, there's some risk involved, if the Utes have scheduled so aggressively that they don't win as many games as they did last season. That's when fans no doubt would forget all about the quality of the opponents and focus only the fact that the Utes strained to beat them.
But the Utes could also wind up getting more credit than they deserve, if you believe that their marquee opponents will bring reputations that outpace their actual talent.
That may not be a huge stretch, considering that Oregon went a modest 18-14 last season and then lost three solid seniors (coach Ernie Kent was already on the hot seat, midway through last season), while Cal has a new coach -- former Utah target Mike Montgomery -- who will be working without superstar forward Ryan Anderson and center DeVon Hardin (both potential first-round NBA Draft picks) after a 17-16 season. LSU finished 13-18 after firing its coach last season, hired Trent Johnson -- another former Utah target -- and watched heralded recruit J'Mison "BoBo" Morgan decide to bail on the Tigers and go to UCLA, instead.
Only Gonzaga was close to an elite team last season, finishing 25-8 and ranking as high as No. 14 in the AP Top 25, but losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to the Davidson team that reached the Elite Eight. Plus, the Zags will have guard Jeremy Pargo back, after the West Coast Conference player of the year withdrew from the NBA Draft.
In any event, the Utes should be applauded for not taking the easy route to 20 wins, like some teams in the Mountain West Conference.
And there's no question that fans will be elated to finally get some value for their ticket purchases, because even a middle-of-the-pack Cal or LSU team is going to be a far better attraction than even the Idaho States and Dixie States of last season, let alone some of the other vastly inferior teams that former coaches invited to the Huntsman Center in previous seasons.
"It's all part of the master plan in my mind ... to get this place back to where it should be," Boylen said.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 5:22 PM |
1 Comments:
I agree with the title of your post today, Mike. It's nice to finally have some marquee schools coming to town. When you schedule good teams you get quality wins and respectable losses. On the other hand, when your marquee non-conference home match-ups feature knife fights with the likes of Southern Utah, Colorado and Albany you get meaningless wins and humiliating losses. You're right, it could backfire, and Utah could pile up some early losses, but I don't think anyone's going to mistake Cal and LSU for Duke and Carolina anytime soon.
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