At the beginning of the Utah football season, a crazy man named Phil Steele ranked the Utes No. 14 before a single game had been played, three spots ahead of BYU. Provo loudmouths called the prediction blasphemous, and they were right.
Utah was ranked much higher.
The Internet is full of sports prophets like Steele8212;nerds who make a living covering their offices with numbers and graphs and figuring out who will go where and who will do what. It’s the job Nostradamus would have if he lived in the 21st century.
The prophet atop the college basketball pedestal is Joe Lunardi, the inventor of the term “Bracketology”8212;the science of writing teams in ink for the madness of March.
Lunardi is no slouch. He is the resident Bracketologist at ESPN, and has predicted 33 of 34 at-large teams since he began in 1998. In 2008, he predicted all 65 teams in the tournament. If Lunardi sees it in his charts, it might as well be gospel.
As of now, he has the Runnin’ Utes in the tournament for the first time in four years.
Although their record includes a number of hang-your-head-in-shame losses, head coach Jim Boylen’s aggressive non-conference scheduling will only help Utah. A number of online sources have the Utes’ strength of schedule in the top 20 in the nation, which will be a major factor when it comes to at-large bids.
It would be an amazing accomplishment for the outspoken coach. In his second year holding the reins, Boylen is on pace to bring back the prominence that Utah basketball enjoyed under Rick Majerus in the 1990s.
Utah is a football school8212;two undefeated Bowl Championship Series-busting seasons will do that8212;but it wasn’t always this way. When jovial Majerus was walking the sidelines in his tight red sweaters, the Huntsman Center was regularly filled with rowdy fans.
Many students can remember basketball names from the end of the last century: Keith Van Horn, Andre Miller, Michael Doleac and even Hanno Mottola. These were the ballers who led the team through historic March runs.
Yet, how many football names come to mind? Players such as Kevin Dyson, Steve Smith and Mike Anderson didn’t become great until they moved to the NFL.
It could be argued those on the hardwood in the Wasatch Mountains had better college careers than professional.
The difference8212;the great equalizer8212;is winning. Ron McBride had some good years during his tenure, but nothing that would get you out of your chair and take notice. Majerus and his Runnin’ Utes, though, had eye-opening runs in the NCAA tournament, culminating with a chance for the title against Kentucky in 1998.
If Lunardi is right and Boylen can get Utah back on the bracket before his own recruits set their size-16 feet on Utah soil, we could see the MUSS slowly shift toward the Huntsman Center.
Consider Utah the Florida Gators of the Western states8212;a college that has enjoyed tremendous and nationally recognized success in two major sports. I only hope Lunardi isn’t prophetic about everything. He currently has Utah playing Kentucky in the first round. While the cycles of winning and losing might change, some things always stay the same.
Nick Pappas