On Tuesday, the Utah basketball team held practice in a little bit of a foreign location. The Huntsman Center was being used for the PowerShares Series tennis circuit event, and according the Utah Athletic Department, HPER was also not an option for the Runnin’ Utes.
CHECK OUT RYAN MILLER’S SWEET 16/ELITE EIGHT PREDICTION EXTRAVAGANZA
So there they were, a Sweet 16 team left without a home.
But really this shouldn’t have been surprising to Utah, it’s been here before. Last season, renovations to the Huntsman Center were scheduled to begin the week the NIT started. That became a little bit of a problem.
After a 21-win season the Utes were a shoo-in for the NIT. In fact, many NIT bracketologists (yes, they exist. I was just as surprised as you) predicted Utah to be a No. 1 seed, which meant they would have hosted every game right up until the tournaments semifinals. But then something funny happened, the Utes were dropped to a fifth-seed, which conveniently eliminated the scheduling issues. I’m going to go ahead and assume that wasn’t by accident.
Utah travelled to Saint Mary’s and lost in the first round, but you have to think the Utes could have made a tournament run had they played some home games.
So, here we are a year later and another scheduling conflict. The Huntsman Center is booked for an event, with the assumption the Utes will be done playing, only for Utah to still have some games to play.
Utah found a spot to practice on Tuesday, taking a field trip over to the EnergySolutions Arena, and maybe that’s more preferred anyway. On Friday, the Utes will be playing in NRG Stadium — home of the NFL’s Houston Texans — so the bigger ESA might have helped them a bit. But still for the second straight season, Utah has exceeded expectations and because of it were left without a place to play.
How’s the last week of March looking for next year? Should we get something scheduled in the Huntsman? It may just guarantee a Final Four berth.
Tuesday’s trip to the Jazz home arena won’t have any affect on the Utes as they head to Texas to face Duke, but it does make you shake your head and chuckle.
Congrats on the Sweet 16, now go find somewhere to play.
@millerjryan