Utah Utes basketball notebook: Team wants home-court edge

Fans attending Utah's Saturday exhibition game against Findlay might have been confused by what they saw on the floor.

For the first time in 40 years, the Utah team sat on the bench on the east side of the arena. Also the student section has been moved around to the other side of the west basket, meaning they'll be right next to the opponents' bench. Another change is the addition of "Section F," created for fans who like to stand and be "rowdy" all game. Those fans pay $99 for a season ticket in one of the sections behind the west basket.

Coach Jim Boylen was involved in the decisions with the athletic department to get more excitement for Ute games.

"I've been talking about how we can get the students back and how we can create atmosphere in here," said Boylen. "Hopefully that visitors' end in the second half will be more rowdy. I was encouraged with the crowd on Saturday and how they were into the game."

According to U. ticket manager Zach Lassiter, the season tickets held pretty steady from last year, but more students are expected this year. The Basketball Muss has increased more than five-fold from a year ago.

CAPTAINS NAMED: The Utes will have four captains for the second year in a row. Boylen announced Tuesday that seniors Luka Drca and Kim Tillie and juniors Carlon Brown and Tre Smith will assume the leadership roles for the Utes this season.

The captains were selected through a team vote consisting of more than 30 players, coaches and staff.

"Our captains are invaluable in our program," said Boylen. "We rely on them to make decisions, bring leadership and take ownership of everything we do. They are accountable for upholding the standards of our program and I think this group will do a great job of that."

NEXT YEAR'S SKED: Boylen isn't backing off on his plan to give his team the most challenging schedule possible.

This year's slate isn't quite as tough as the past two years, mainly because of more home games. Still there are several big-name opponents on the schedule including Illinois, Michigan, Oklahoma, LSU, Illinois State and either Oklahoma State or Bradley in the Las Vegas tournament.

Next year, the Utes will be playing in the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii over Christmas with teams from the SEC, Big 10, Big 12 and Pac-10 as well as Butler and San Diego. They'll also have road games at Michigan at a team from the Missouri Valley as well as a possible game against a prominent Big Ten team in a mid-December TV game.

GAME THAT NEVER WAS: Ten days ago, the Utes played against the University of Colorado at the Huntsman Center in a game that nobody saw except the coaches for each team. And that's the way it was supposed to be.