Ute Sports

 Utah's basketball team announced it has elected its captains for the season with seniors Luka Drca and Kim Tillie and juniors Carlon Brown and Tre Smith getting the honor, which was decided by a team vote.

 The Utes open the season Friday against Idaho, which was picked to finish fourth in the WAC by both the coaches and media in the preseason polls.

 The Utes tested out some new arrangements in its exhibition win over Findlay Saturday by moving the student section near the opponents' bench, which they hope gives them an advantage.

 "It's good to have the students above the team bench," Killie said. "On the road they are usually behind us and talk trash it's a good thing to have that at home too."

 As for what the Utes felt they needed to improve in before Friday's game, Tillie highlighted breaking the press, something the Utes had trouble handling against Findlay.

 "Idaho is going to see film and see we struggle with it so we are going to be working on that and getting better, he said.

 The Utes had 19 turnovers in that contest, a concern for coach Jim Boylen and Brown.

 "We've got to cut down on turnovers and sloppy plays," Brown said. "We've just got to shorten everything up."

 The big topic of discussion on the MWC teleconference was the Utah-TCU game with various national and local reporters getting coaches' take on the matchup.

 Asked what makes TCU so good and both San Diego State coach Brady Hoke and Air Force coach Troy Calhoun paid big compliments to the Horned Frogs' O-line.

 "They are a physical front that plays at a high level and plays fast," Hoke said.

 Calhoun said the Frogs were "absolutely loaded" at the skill position and called the offensive line the "unsung part of the group." 

 "It's a big front but they are lean and block well but are exceptional at pass protection because of their length."

Here is TCU's OL

LT - Marshall Newhouse, 6-4, 320, Sr.

LG - Kyle Dooley, 6-3, 315, So.

C - Jake Kirkpatrick, 6-3, 305, Jr.

RG - Josh Vernon, 6-2, 295, Jr.

RT - Marcus Cannon, 6-5, 350, Jr.

Utah's DL is

LE-Derrick Shelby, 6-3, 250, So.

T - Sealver Siliga, 6-3, 300, So. or Lei Talamaivao 6-2, 280, so.

NT - Dave Kruger, 6-5, 272, Fr.

RE - Koa Misi, 6-3, 263, Sr.

 Utah coach Kyle Whittingham repeated much of what he said during Monday's press conference, reiterating the Frogs are a very balanced team.

 "There's no magic way to prepare for them, you have to be sound and keep them off balance," he said.

 As for TCU coach Gary Patterson, he acknowledged the Utes' close win last year over the Frogs has been a tremendous motivating factor for the team.

 He also mentioned this year's team has a different mentality than those he has coached in past seasons, so much so that he has had to change his pregame speeches and so forth. He described them as very mature and laid back.

 "If they have been struggling or tense it's when I have screwed them up," he said. "I try to stay out of their way. It's a fun group to be around."

Can't get enough of the statistical breakdown of the TCU-Utah matchup? If not, you'll want to check out this site organized by Scott Albrecht, a professor in the Department of Sociology who spends much of his free time breaking down college football games.

 He has been fairly close in many of Utah's scores this season. The bad news there is his analysis gives TCU a 91 percent chance of winning Saturday.

 Make sure you click on the explanations of the maps if you have trouble understanding them as well as "more statistics" to get the teams' habits which include how often teams throw interceptions, the chance of a Utah quarterback getting sacked and so much more. Stat geeks, and you know who you are, will be in heaven.

 Had a story today on Utah's winning ways you can read here, along with notes.

 The Utes always say they treat every week like any other week, but the intensity at practice was definitely up a notch yesterday. The scout team was in TCU purple and the Utes' had rap music blasting during their conditioning. Coach John Pease was also on a tear more than usual, giving his defensive line some pointers with some colorful language shall we say. Usually Morgan Scalley is the loudest coach on the field but Pease had him beat Monday. 

 Here we go again, the Utah Utes are living it up in the underdog role. Hard to say what they were more surprised by, Utah's ranking or the 16 points TCU is getting.

  "When I heard about it, it makes you mad," corner Brandon Burton said. "We have to channel that into playing hard and playing good."

 Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said, of course, he didn't care about such things. But I'm sure the polls and anything else he can think of will be used to motivate the Utes come Saturday in Ft. Worth.

 It was a long press conference today with the Utes giving plenty of respect to the Frogs while also reminding everyone they are the defending MWC champions.

 "Hopefully we'll play well because we're going to need to because they are a very, very good football team," Whittingham said.

 He repeated what he said Saturday after the New Mexico win when he said TCU was the best he has seen it since it has been in the MWC.

 "They have excellent players on their roster, solid top to bottom," he said.

 The Utes don't seem intimidated at all by going to TCU, which isn't surprising considering the number of big games in which they've participated in recent seasons.

 "These are the games you dream of playing as a kid," corner Brandon Burton said.

 Probably one of the matchups that will get the most attention this week is Utah offensive lineman Tony Bergstrom, who must find a way to slow TCU's Jerry Hughes. Last year, Utah's right tackle Dustin Hensel only gave up a half sack to the All-American.

 He is averaging a sack a game this year, which leads the conference and is tied for eighth best in the nation.

 "He is a very good football player, someone you have to account for," Whittingham said.

 I just finished writing an article about Utah's winning ways. The Utes spoke quite a bit about what they've accomplished recently and the pride they have. Thought this was a good quote from receiver Jereme Brooks:

 "You are on the throne until somebody dethrones you," Brooks said. "We are the champions until somebody proves us otherwise."

Here is to fashion, I guess.

 According to the TCU press release, the Horned Frogs will be one of 10 programs to unveil Nike's new Pro Combat uniform, which is being billed as the lightest football uniform Nike has created. It will be officially introduced at the start of the 2010 season.

 Here is more on it. I've gotten a couple emails from Utah fans asking if the Utes will wear anything differently. The Utah folks say no.

 But seriously, is there nothing better to talk about in this matchup?!