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Utah Utes basketball: Utes' non-league schedule difficult

Nice to see at least 1 college basketball team in this state has the guts to face a tough schedule. 6 games against likely NCAA teams, and another 2-4 at least in conference play. Not bad.

Excited to see what the teams does this year. The seniors last year were not Boylen recruits, but he was the only coach to get them to play to a system and to their potential. Each of them got better when he took over, especially Nevill.

I like the fact that Boylen is getting as many top programs as he can. It should be an interesting year as he has recruited from all over the U.S.
The MWC seems to be rising as New Mexico and Steve Alford has some good recruits as well as Steve Fischer at SDSU and Kreugar at UNLV. I'm not sure about the TDS , seems like Rose just offered scholarships for the decent players in Utah County. Not really a hot bed, but he seems to have a good one in Haws, and that Emery kid from last year should be a reliable point guard. It's a good thing that Taveneri stuck around so that Yners don't lose out or be penalized from the NCAA with a low graduation rate as Ohio State did when Koufas and Odem left early.
All in all it should be a very good year for basketball in the MWC.
I really like the excitement from all of the round ball teams in the state including Utah State , Weber State , SLCC, and even the lady Utes and Tommy Connors Westminster teams.

A few tough games, but the rest are extremely weak teams. Not really a schedule to be too proud of. And it wasn't Utah's non-conference schedule that got them into the NCAA tournament last year, it was winning a very good MWC.

Next year will inevitably be somewhat of a rebuilding year, but with only 1 or 2 seniors, the following 2-3 seasons look especially promising.

I can't wait to see what the team will look like with players who've got a full four years under Boylen.

You can't be referring to BYU playing Wake Forest and at Arizona State can you? Perhaps you are thinking more about SW Baptist State...at home or Idaho State on the road? Give me a break.

It sounds like a well-balanced schedule. Given the loss of Nevill, we have to expect a bit of a let down, but I still anticipate a very competitive team. Coaches keep or lose their jobs based primarily on win/loss records, so there is a temptation to avoid probable losses in the non-conference part of the season. My hat's off to Jim Boylen for having the faith and cojones to schedule several top teams. Go Utes!

All of the state's college coaches will play any team, the problem is most of the other teams will only play at Utah, because it's an easier place to win than the Spectrum or Marriott Center.

Let's compare strength of schedules last year shall we? I don't think you want to go there.

Yes, we do. I suspect you are going to drivel on about how tough BYU's season was. If memory serves, and I believe it does, BYU was no where in the same league as Utah with respect to strength of schedule. So, please go there...I want to know what your facts are and I'm equally curious to know how you spin those facts to tell the story you want to convey.

If your comment is not related to BYU's schedule, then please clarify.

Thanks.

Jim Boylen has recruited some very good ball players. 2 from Texas, 1 from Michigan and another from Georgia , plus he has some 6-11/ 7 foot guys in the wings. Rose recruited whoever was available in Utah County.
What a pitiful comment about the loss to Southern Baptist.. big deal, they won the MWC tournament , as did baseball, and football?... Those two advances and a Sugar Bowl victory kept the name Utah out in the media for the long stretch. That positive press will pay dividends in the years to come. Meanwhile out where, "The World is our Campuss", YBU lost in the Dust bowl by only holding 6 of the assigned practices, had a fireside with Donko,( standing up your cheerleaders , pep band and fans,) then took the field and lost against an unranked and unsung 5th place Pac 10 team thus embarrassing the entire MWC with your clueless behavior on and off the field.
Now tell me what was Rose thinking ? After all Utah did pour 1.5 million dollars into the athletic budget from BCS wins, surely some would have gone for recruiting instead of buying ice cream for the church singles social.

Nice to see that extremely tough team, Southwest Baptist, off the schedule.

The YEWTS said the same thing last season and then went right and LOST to SOUTHWEST BAPTIST and CSI!!!!!

Mighty tough schedule. What division II school do you dare play this year????

Oh I get it....scared for another REPEAT performance????

HA! HA! HA!

The MWC is a weak conference in both major sports. That you set up 2 or 3 valid non conf games does nothing for the overall program. You people on the Wasatch Front think the world revolves around you when most people don't even know how to find SLC on the map.

TOUGH SCHEDULE???? | 10:39 p.m. May 26, 2009

Nevertheless, Utah accomplished as much as the pre-season favorite BYU. Oh wait Utah actually beat a ranked team... never mind of BYU.

so what?? | 12:26 a.m. May 27, 2009
You people on the Wasatch Front think the world revolves around you when most people don't even know how to find SLC on the map.

Only an idiot couldn't find SLC using Google Map... someone as cleaver as you had no problem finding DNews so your not one of them.

How many home games will Disco Stu play this year? Will any of those games include any D-1 schools?

If we lose to SW Baptist every year and win a MWC Championship, then so be it. I'm happy.

There are plenty of teams that would be willing to do a home-and-home series or a 2 away / 1 home series with BYU (see Wake Forest for example). If BYU wasn't so scared about playing tough teams on the road it would happen a lot more often.

If I was a BYU fan, I would be very disappointed with the lack of quality opponents that show up on the schedule each year. There is no way I would buy season tickets for 1 good non-conference home game, and a lot of years it is actually zero.

Great, so you played two tough games last year, and how did those work out for you???? LOSSES.

Try beating someone worth note, then you can talk about how Rose schedules. 2 decent games out of what 10-11 before conference? Wow, really preparing his team isn't he.

BYU's best win last year was......UTAH.

Nuff said.

Correction. Names will come play Utah because Utah is also a national name. Unlike the other in-state programs. Losing at Utah, as SEC champ LSU and Sweet Sixteen team Gonzaga did last year, is not a bad loss because the Utes are a nationally recognized basketball program. But losing in Cow Valley and Happy Valley does not look good since neither has a national reputation of winning.

Last season Utahs SOS was 23, BYUs was 67. Utahs ending RPI was 9th, BYUs was 29th. Utah lost to Southwest Baptist, but they had wins against Oregon, Gonzaga and LSU. They tied for the regular season conference championship with BYU, but won the conference tournament. BYU's biggest win was Utah! Every year is different, but Utah accomplished more than BYU in every sport that matters this year!