There is certainly a high level of investment in the rivalry between BYU and Utah for those involved in it, but where does the rivalry rank among the nation’s best in college football?
That’s a question that has been asked for a long time, and in a big project published last week, The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman attempted to provide an answer as he ranked the top 100 rivalries in the country.
Dochterman didn’t provide a formula for how he determined his rankings, only writing, “I peeled back the layers of reputation and examined each one’s attributes, then compared them with objective measurements and the help of input from my colleagues at The Athletic. A few choices are perhaps controversial, but this list is a snapshot taken with a wide lens, not a selfie-stick at a tailgate."
The BYU-Utah rivalry wound up coming in at No. 28 in Dochterman’s rankings.
“Only 40 miles separate the campuses and their mutual upward trajectory has elevated it into a major power-conference series,” Dochterman wrote.
“Its profile has grown over the past two decades and it could become even more impactful with both in the Big 12.”
For comparison’s sake, Dochterman ranked the Stanford-Cal rivalry at No. 29 and the Oregon-Oregon State rivalry at No. 27.
Michigan-Ohio State was ranked No. 1, while LSU-Mississippi State just cracked the list at No. 100.