If Boylen sounds a bit philosophical — even sentimental — he couldn't be blamed. It was a heck of a year to land the job, after two decades as an assistant coach in the NBA and at Michigan State. This season marks the 100th anniversary of Utah basketball. On Dec. 10, 1908, Erastus J. Milne launched what would eventually become the nation's 10th-winningest basketball program. Utah faced the Salt Lake YMCA in that first game and lost.

It's safe to say things have improved in the last century. Saturday's win gave the Utes a 9-4 record.

Along the way, there were a lot of successful coaches. Vadal Peterson got things rolling, winning 63 percent of his games over 26 years. Jack Gardner, Bill Foster and Jerry Pimm each advanced the program and won championships. Rick Majerus surprised everyone by staying 14 seasons and winning 77 percent of his games.

Not a bad history for a school that struggled to beat Salt Lake High back in the winter of '09.

But on Saturday, it 'wasn't the YMCA or good ol' S.L. High, but rather Air Force — a team that beat the Utes by 26 last time they met. Though it took Utah eight minutes to score its first field goal, that didn't dismay Boylen in the least. He was thinking positive thoughts. Not only did he have a 7-foot center, four days-worth of preparation, a home crowd, a red-hot backup guard and a nice, red necktie, too.

He also had a hundred years of grand tradition watching his back.

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E-mail: rock@desnews.com