Despite what you hear on the radio or around the water cooler at work, the chances of either Utah or BYU or both moving to the Pac-10 Conference in the near future don't appear too likely.
University of Utah president Bernie Machen doesn't believe his school is going anywhere. He says all the recent talk about Utah moving to the Pac-10 is more about "someone kicking up the dust."
"I know a lot of presidents in the Pac-10, and as far as I know, there's never been any discussion about expansion with Utah," he said.
That doesn't mean the school wouldn't be interested if such an opportunity arose, says Machen. However, it's not realistic right now.
"Our future is with the Mountain West Conference," Machen said. "We made a commitment when we started the Mountain West and we're going to stick with that. We've come so far in such a short time, and with a little luck we can really take it to the next level."
BYU President Cecil Samuelson, who has been on the job less than a month, said his athletic director, Val Hale, and advancement vice president, Fred Skousen, are more abreast of that situation. He said he's not aware of any conferences looking at BYU but that the school has to be ready.
"We have to keep our minds open," he said. "We may have to jump very quickly."
Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson is also confident that Utah and BYU are going to be around for awhile.
"I don't lose any sleep over that," said Thompson. "We're in this for the long term and we've got a good vehicle for BYU and Utah. But I'm sure if the Pac-10 called tomorrow, they'd pack up and go."
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