BYU basketball all but slammed the door on UVU ‘rivalry’
By Adam Gibby
The UCCU Center had its first sellout ever when UVU hosted BYU basketball in what appeared to be a start of a rivalry. But the Cougars ended that.
The UCCU Center has a capacity of 8,500 people. That is 2,500 more than Gonzaga’s “Kennell” and only 1,800 less seats than Utah States arena. In other words, it is not a small basketball arena. And for the first time in UVU’s program history, it had a sellout.
Granted, a lot of the fans were cheering for BYU basketball, but let’s be honest, that arena would have never sold out if BYU Basketball had not lost to the Wolverines last season.
The student section was loud and crazy, almost having a BYU vs Gonzaga feeling to it. It wasn’t until UVU was down by 20 late in the second half that the cheers started to fade and the crowd lost its energy.
UVU fans were wanting a rivalry game. BYU fans were hoping to end any rivalry talk. In the end BYU fans got what they wanted.
Ending A Rivalry That “Never” Started
If you ask any BYU basketball fan they will say that UVU is not their rival. That being said however, there were a lot of BYU fans who were a little bit anxious about this game. Normally, when BYU and UVU play it has the same buzz and interest as when BYU plays Weber State, SUU or even Westminister. Tuesday night however, it had about the same amount of attention as a Utah State game.
BYU basketball did not want this to be seen as rivalry game. The schools are only 4.5 miles apart and the Cougars can not afford to lose recruits to UVU and indirectly the University of Utah. Losing last season was almost in a sense a warning to BYU. Another loss could lead to either recruits going to UVU, or recruits seeing BYU on the same level as UVU and so deciding to go to Utah.
The only thing that could change that was a win by the Cougars. A win by 20 points or more. A loss would have put this into a full out rivalry. A close win would have kept the door wide open and would have potentially hurt the Cougars recruiting. However, a 27 point win in a game where UVU was never threatening in the second half all but shuts the door on any “rivalry” between the two schools.
Moving On
BYU showed that last year’s loss was hiccup. Every team has that happen every once in awhile. Michigan State lost to Middle Tennessee in basketball two seasons ago. Michigan lost to Appellation State a decade ago in football and LSU lost to Troy this season. Troy is not going to pick up LSU’s recruits though because everyone knows that 49 out of 50 times, LSU is going to win that game.
At this point where the two programs are, BYU should beat UVU 49 out of 50 times. Maybe that will change in the future and will lead to true rivalry, but for now Cougar fans do not want that.
The only thing BYU basketball has to do now to completely shut the door is win next year. The game will not have as much buzz as this year. ESPN predictor will also likely not favor UVU like it did this year. If the Cougars can win again next year by 15+ points, then BYU will officially overcome its loss and any rivalry talk with UVU.