OREM — When it comes to sports, the Cougars have one goal in mind — to annihilate the Running Utes.
But off the court and in the classroom, there is a different rivalry at work.
Call it Brigham Young University versus Utah Valley State College or Cougars versus Wolverines.
Or, better yet, longtime university versus wannabe university.
Whatever you call it, there is a definite hierarchy in some BYU students' minds that places UVSC students dead last on the academic totem pole.
"I don't know how to explain it, but people who go to UVSC are just different," said BYU student Ashley Gardner, whose roommates are all UVSC students.
"They're not stupid, but they're not really serious about getting an education. They're here to have fun."
Fellow Cougar Christopher West said that he dislikes some UVSC students because they mock and often break BYU's strict policies, but "are secretly praying that they'll get in (to BYU)."
For that reason, West says he has a strict "no UVSC girls" dating policy, though he regularly interacts with UVSC students in his housing complex and counts some among his closest friends.
"They definitely have cuter girls at UVSC," West said. "But it's all air up there, if you know what I mean. But I wouldn't tell anyone that to their face."
But UVSC grad Dylan Seiter said that BYU students shouldn't talk.
"They think they're so much holier than us, but then they judge us," Seiter said. "There might have been a day when that worked but we're not BYU's little sister any more. UVSC has made a name for itself. You couldn't have paid me to go to BYU."
Interestingly, both schools share a common dislike for University of Utah students.
"They think because they live in Salt Lake that they've been liberated somehow," she said. "I would rather hang out with someone from UVSC any day."
E-mail: lwarner@desnews.com