Utah fans can’t stand BYU fans. Utah State fans can’t stand BYU fans. BYU fans don’t like how the Utes or Aggies treat them. Are these phrases myths or do they hold some truth to them? Fans from the Beehive State have spoken and for the sake of privacy their names will be anonymous in this article.
How the Utes perceive the Aggies:
The Aggies and Utes recognize the mutual respect they have for each other but at the same time they both want to beat each other so badly. The Utes recognize that the Pac 12 is a Power 5 conference so they don’t want to lose to anyone from a Group of 5 conference like the Mountain West. It’s rare when the Utes lose to the Aggies but when they do it’s a lot easier for them to swallow. The Aggies view the Utes as equal to them and though Ute fans may not feel the same, they should. There has been a lot more parity in basketball before the series stopped and football games have recently been closely contested.
How Utes perceive Cougars:
The Ute fans perceive BYU far differently than the Cougars. While many LDS Ute fans appreciate BYU as a Mormon owned school, they view Cougar fans has hypocrites. Cougar fans look at Utah State as inferior yet they complain when Ute fans do the same to them. They think they’re going to the national title every year. BYU fans have no sense of reality. They blame their losses on cheating, weather, refs or any other excuse. BYU fairly or unfairly should be held to a higher standard because of their association with the LDS church. The ideal situation would be to cheer for all in state teams when they aren’t playing our favorite in state team. There are good athletes at all schools so fans should appreciate all of them. Ute fans can appreciate BYU while taking their fan base with a grain of salt.
How Cougars perceive Aggies: Aggie fans seem like they are trying to pick a fight or prove something. They are more concerned with BYU losing than they are about winning. The Aggies proved this perception right when in 2008 the students made shirts that said “Win or lose, at least we don’t live in Provo.” Aggie fans talk more often about BYU’s most recent loss than Utah State’s most recent win. The LDS church owned school makes USU fans feel like BYU students have a “holier than thou” attitude because they are attending school at BYU. USU fans don’t like this as many of them are LDS.
How Cougars perceive Utes: The Max Hall tales of drunk Ute fans are no myth. One anonymous Cougar fan was assaulted by drunk Ute fans but still proclaims that Aggie fans are worse. Ute fans think that because they are in the Pac-12 conference they are superior to all. There are still Ute signs in downtown Salt Lake that say “Pac-12” on them. They try to show “superiorness” (as Ute fans would spell it) in some very ironic ways like nitpicking everything about the Cougars. If Ute fans are superior to the Cougars then why do they spend so much time talking about BYU? Coach Larry’s decision to suspend the BYU vs Utah basketball this game this year still makes Cougar fans laugh. In places like North Carolina, the Duke vs. UNC game has never been cancelled despite bloody noses and players shoving coaches. They seem to be promoting “safety first” at the University of Utah these days.
How Aggies perceive the Cougars: BYU fans are generally nice in all topics not related to sports. The BYU men’s basketball team was accommodating in re-scheduling their matchup with the Aggies in the 2012-2013 season. They did so because Aggie player Danny Berger was in cardiac arrest in a team practice days before BYU was scheduled to host the Aggies. The Cougars and Aggies played two months later since most of the Aggies were shook up by the misfortune of their teammate. One annoying thing about the Cougars is that BYU fans think anyone who isn’t at BYU are rejects and are therefore just jealous that they didn’t get into BYU.
How Aggies perceive the Utes: Utah fans actually know about their teams. They are willing to list their accomplishments and they can tell you about the players and coaches who accomplished these feats. They are really good at clicking spoons. The one negative about this team is that is the default team to like in the state so their fans aren’t as intense on average. It is the bandwagon team right now as the Utes are the only team in the state that is in a Power 5 conference (Pac-12) and on average have outperformed other schools in the state of Utah in major sports like football and basketball.
Utes, Aggies and Cougars can agree to disagree on who is the best university in the state but they can also can show good sportsmanship and focus more on cheering for their school than belittling other schools. Cougars can rise and shout, the Utah Man can sing his song, and the Aggies can sing the Scotsman and love the spot where the sagebrush grows.