Aggies and Utes rivalry to take a break
The basketball rivalry between the University of Utah Utes and Utah State Aggies is one of the oldest of the state, but the rivalry that has spanned 102 years and 223 games may see its final game tonight in the Spectrum. According to Aggie head coach Stew Morrill, he still wants to schedule home and home games, and it’s the Utes who don’t want to continue the rivalry.
“It is the last time we will have them here in the foreseeable future,” Morrill said. “That is unfortunate, but that is what we are being told. Those 223 games have been played on an equal basis, home and home. It’s unfortunate.”
The Aggies have had trouble in past scheduling home and home games with BYU, and the rivalry even stopped for two years, but the Aggies have never had problems scheduling games with the Utes until now. The Utes offered Morrill and the Aggies to possibility to play in Salt Lake on a money game basis, but that offer did not appeal to Morrill at all.
“They have been played no matter what league everyone has been in,” Morrill said. “It is unfortunate that that doesn’t appear to be the way that it’s going to be. We were scheduled to go their next year, but we are not going to schedule them unless it is home and home.”
As shocking as the change was to Morrill and the Aggies, they will move on and look forward to tonight’s game.
“They just said they are going into the Pac-10 and their schedule is full, and they don’t want to come to Logan,” Morrill said. “That being what it is, we better enjoy this game. It doesn’t appear that we will be playing in the foreseeable future; maybe that will change. I hope so.”
-ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu