The Runnin’ Utes will spend New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in the state of Oregon in new coach Craig Smith’s first season at the helm.
The Pac-12 officially released its weekly pairing matchups and site designations for men’s basketball on Thursday for the upcoming 2021-22 league schedule, the second year of the conference’s 20-game slate.
After playing at USC on Dec. 1 and hosting Cal on Dec. 5 to open league play — as was previously announced — the Utes will have more than three weeks off from conference play before traveling to Oregon at the end of the month.
Specific dates and times for each game will be announced later, but Utah will play either Oregon or Oregon State on Dec. 29 and the other on Jan. 2. Both teams are projected to make the NCAA Tournament this year after solid showings in the Big Dance last year.
This is the first year of the new 10-year rotation, a rotation that will dictate annual opponents and venues through the 2030-31 season.
Here are the Utes’ weekly pairings:
Week of Dec. 29-Jan. 2: at Oregon/Oregon State.
Week of Jan. 5-9: vs. Washington/Washington State.
Week of Jan. 12-16: at Arizona/Arizona State.
Week of Jan. 19-23: vs. UCLA/USC.
Week of Jan. 26-30: at Washington State/Washington.
Week of Feb. 2-6: vs. Oregon/Oregon State.
Week of Feb. 9-13: at Colorado.
Week of Feb. 16-20: at California/Stanford.
Week of Feb. 23-27: vs. Arizona/Arizona State.
Week of March 2-5: vs. Colorado.