The BYU-Utah rivalry doesn’t need any more spice to be meaningful, but it’s getting some anyway. The Cougars and Utes meet at Miller Park in Provo over the next three days and for the two teams picked to finish at the bottom of the Big 12, they are playing for some prime real estate in the middle of the conference.
“We are at the time of year where a two- or three-game swing is really important in the standings,” said Utah coach Gary Henderson. “It’s a very important game for postseason seedings.”
With nine Big 12 games remaining, the Cougars (11-10) are tied for sixth place with Oklahoma State. Utah (9-12) is two games back of BYU and tied for ninth with Kansas State and Baylor. The top 12 teams qualify for the conference tournament.
“It’s big for both of us because of where we both are in the standings and where both of us are trying to get to. This is huge,” said BYU coach Trent Pratt. “It’s also good that we are both getting better. It’s good to have both programs on the rise and improving.”
Adding to the spirit of the weekend is the fact that BYU and Utah are playing a series at Miller Park as members of the same conference — something they haven’t done in Provo since belonging to the Mountain West in 2010.
A lot has changed since then, including many of the faces on both sides of the rivalry — Vance Law (baseball), Bronco Mendenhall (football), Dave Rose (basketball) and Cecil O. Samuelson (president) have all been replaced at BYU. Bill Kinneberg (baseball), Kyle Whittingham (football), Jim Boylen (basketball) and Michael K. Young (president) are all gone from Utah.
Sixteen years ago, Henderson and Pratt couldn’t have been further away from matching wits in the BYU-Utah rivalry. Henderson was the head coach at Kentucky and Pratt was an assistant coach for Mike Littlewood at Dixie State (Utah Tech) in St. George. When Henderson took the Utah job in 2021, the Utes were still in the former Pac-12. Pratt grabbed the reins of the Cougars in 2022 before BYU’s final year in the WCC.
Last year, reunited as members in the Big 12, Utah won the series against BYU in Salt Lake 2-1, but by season’s end, the Cougars had edged past the Utes for the final spot in the conference tournament.
Playing catcher at Arizona State and Auburn, Pratt learned firsthand how rivalry games against Arizona and Alabama were just a little different from the others. He has come to know the BYU-Utah clash is just as special.
“You feel it before the game. There is more energy in the crowd, but once it starts, it becomes just another game and you are just tying to execute one pitch at a time,” Pratt said. “They know. They know it’s Utah and they know what’s at stake. You don’t really have to say anything to them — you just try to be consistent and go about it like we have all year.”
Conferences, coaches and rosters have changed, but the passion of the rivalry remains. As the legend has it, the first baseball game between BYU and Utah in 1895 ended in a tie and a fight. In 2026, the Utes are fighting to tie the Cougars in the standings — which they can do by winning the series. On the other hand, BYU can deal a devastating blow to Utah’s postseason hopes by doing the same.
“You are playing against a rival, people who are well coached, well financed and well prepared, it’s important to the coaching staff, the players and the fans,” Henderson said. “There is no sidestepping it. This is an important series.”
Las Vegas rings an opening bell to start a fight. In Provo, the teams will settle for a first pitch in front of a full house on Thursday (6 p.m. MDT, ESPN+) with a whole lot riding on the outcome.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.