While most of the chatter surrounding the latest drama in the Utah-BYU rivalry has been confined to the Beehive State, one national voice provided some thoughts Wednesday morning.

USA Today’s Dan Wolken was a guest on 1280 The Zone, and in a nine-minute interview he expounded on a tweet he sent Tuesday that read, “As a guy who doesn’t live in Utah, I don’t care about the drama. I just want the Utes and Cougars to play.”

When discussing how Utah should schedule its three non-conference games, Wolken said he feels the program isn’t at an elite enough point where it should be too preoccupied with trying to help itself make the college football playoff.

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“I think with Utah, you just have to make a decision sort of philosophically, ‘Do we want to play BYU or not?’” he said. “That will more than likely be a pretty good game in most years.”

Wolken also feels that it’s on Utes athletic director Chris Hill to make sure the annual game stays on the schedule.

“For the good of the state, for the good of the fan base and the history and the tradition of that rivalry, it’s something that you suck it up and deal with, because the truth is, they don’t need BYU as much as BYU needs them right now,” he said.

Soon after making that observation about the Cougars, Wolken also dismissed the notion that Utah’s season-opening matchup is a bigger deal than the game with BYU — a point Hill has made numerous times.

“I think from a national perspective, people are more interested in Utah-BYU because it’s an in-state game, it’s got that Holy War vibe to it,” he said. “Whether you like that nickname or not, that’s sort of the way people look at it.”

In any event, Wolken is a fan of the debate that has taken place.

“I think both fanbases are sort of at a fever pitch right now,” he said, “and that’s good for business.”

Quin Snyder visits Sehawks

Utah Jazz coach and Washington native Quin Snyder is a longtime Seattle Seahawks fan, and the head man took the opportunity Tuesday to attend Seattle’s practice, as tweeted by the Seahawks.

Snyder’s attendance in Seattle comes a year after Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr visited Pete Carroll and company. The Warriors, of course, won the NBA championship.

Future Ute gymnast Skinner’s Olympic dreams still alive

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MyKayla Skinner is still on the road to Rio.

The Gilbert, Arizona, resident — who signed with the University of Utah gymnastics team last fall but deferred enrollment as she tries to earn a spot on the United States’ 2016 squad — has been named to the U.S. Senior National Team, according to a news release from the school.

Skinner tied for seventh in the all-around at the 2015 P&G Championship last Saturday in Indianapolis. She took third and fourth on vault and floor respectively at the 2014 World Championships in China.

Ryan McDonald is a sports reporter at DeseretNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanwmcdonald.

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