Cougars, Utes amp up rivalry another notch

LEHI — BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall and Utah coach Kyle Whittingham broke away from preparing for their respective football games this weekend to spend part of Thursday at Thanksgiving Point.

No, they weren't golfing. They were attending — while flanked by cheerleaders from their schools — a joint news conference hosted by BYU and Utah to announce the formation of a rivalry series between the two universities that begins this season named the Deseret First Duel, presented by Deseret First Credit Union.

A scoring system has been created for the rivalry series to determine which school wins the yearly competition in the 12 sports in which the two schools compete head-to-head. It includes the results of regular-season games only.

While the presence of the schools' two head football coaches lent some star power to Thursday's event, the rivalry series is more about the lesser-known "Olympic" sports rather than the more high-profile football and men's basketball teams, whose rivalry showdowns need no additional hype or motivation.

"There's a lot of attention paid to our football and basketball games," said BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe. "We've had some epic games throughout the century. But there's a lot of greatness that occurs with the Olympic sports. We think (the Deseret First Duel) will bring a lot more attention to those student-athletes and bring some interest."

A team trophy will be awarded to the individual winner of each of the 12 sports — football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, women's soccer, women's volleyball, gymnastics, softball, men's swimming, women's swimming, men's tennis and women's tennis. At the conclusion of each sports season, a traveling trophy, made of granite, will be awarded to the overall rivalry series champion.

Utah athletic director Chris Hill said the creation of this rivalry series has a lot to do with the fans of both schools.

"No, we didn't want to put gasoline on the fire. But our rivalry is a really healthy one," Hill said. "What I consider a healthy rivalry is not knowing who is going to win. It's an exciting time. This is for our fans. This is a chance for our fans to get to know all of our sports and have a yearlong celebration of the rivalry that we have."

Then, Hill joked, "If it ends in a tie, then Tom and I will play golf to determine the championship."

This rivalry series concept is not a new one. Duke-North Carolina and UCLA-USC have also set up similar yearly series.