Utah coach Ron McBride was raised in South Gate, a short drive from the campuses of USC and UCLA, but in his mind not near enough to touch either.
"I always looked at USC and UCLA as something out of my reach," he said Tuesday, 16 days from playing USC in the Freedom Bowl.McBride's fourth season at Utah produced the school's second consecutive bowl berth and, suddenly, from Salt Lake City, he is closer to USC than he ever was in South Gate.
Before last year's Copper Bowl, the Utes had not played in a bowl since 1964, and now they are in back-to-back bowls for the first time in school history.
"This is a whole new deal for Utah," McBride said.
The reality, however, is that the Utes (7-5) are 15- to 17-point underdogs.
"Maybe the stats are right," McBride said. "Maybe they are 17 points better. I don't care who we play - Notre Dame, USC, the L.A. Rams, the 49ers, just the opportunity for us is huge. But those guys usually know what they're doing, because that's money."
Add McBride: While a merry Utah team is scheduled to arrive Dec. 22 to begin practicing for the Freedom Bowl, USC administrators were drawn in kicking and screaming.
USC athletic director Mike Garrett stung the Western Athletic Conference and Utah when he tried to wrangle his way out of the Freedom Bowl and into the Alamo Bowl. His words - "For us, playing anybody from the WAC is a no-win situation." - reached Salt Lake City in a hurry.
Garrett's quote is receiving big play around the Utah campus.
"Obviously they put that up all over the place," McBride said. "You know that's not the feeling of (USC's) football people, but that's the feeling of their athletic director. I don't really want to comment on that."
USC coach John Robinson, of course, defended his team's enthusiasm to play Utah. The Trojans seniors last season voted not to play Fresno State in the Freedom Bowl, according to quarterback Rob Johnson, a game they eventually played and lost 24-7.
"A lot was made about last year," Robinson said. "It was kind of a different response, but this is a different year and the feeling is not remotely what it was."