Now, one year later, the Utes have opened camp and are preparing for their first season in that new league. I’m not going to sit here and argue that the Mountain West is, or was, the caliber conference as the Pac-12, but the Utes have shown over the past near-decade or so that the can compete with anyone, going to two BCS bowls and winning both times they went, so I have no trouble believing they’ll compete in their new conference.

Kyle Whittingham joined The Jim Rome Show to discuss the Utes’ move to the Pac-12, the excitement it’s generating, how it changes recruiting, how the competition will change after moving from the Mountain West, how the season played out a year ago and how adding Norm Chow as offensive coordinator affects things.

You’re making the move to the Pac-12. How long has that move been in the making?:

“It’s probably been talked about here at the university for maybe 25 years as far as aspirations to join the Pac-10 conference. A lot of great coaches have come through here, a lot of great players, to lay the foundation, the groundwork, for something like this to happen.”

How fired up is the community and fanbase about the move?:

“They’re extremely excited. The retention rate, or the renewal rate I should say, for our season tickets, was 98 percent, which is almost unheard of throughout the country. … That’s a big positive. The community itself is ecstatic. The university, not only athletically, but academically it’s had a big impact. It’s been a big deal for the entire community.”

How does it change the type of player you can recruit?:

“Well we’ve already seen a spike in recruiting. I guess it’s been about 13 or 14 months now since the announcement. We’re able to virtually get into any door in the country of a player that we want to try to recruit and talk to. That hasn’t always been the case. We’ve come a long way in the last 10 years. It started with the Fiesta Bowl exposure in 2004 and then the Sugar Bowl in 2009. Joining the Pac-12 Conference, that just took it a notch higher.”

In terms of competition, how big of a step is it moving from the Mountain West to the Pac-12?:

“The Pac-12 had two of the top five teams in the country last year at year’s end. That tells you right there the level of play that’s in that conference. We’ve come from a conference that plays pretty darn good football. The Mountain West Conference, especially TCU last year, there’s good football teams there as well. But we fully understand and realize the bar’s been raised.”

Are we talking about the conference just being deeper or are the athletes truly bigger, faster and stronger?:

“I think everybody’s a little bit bigger, little faster, little stronger and more depth. That’s probably the biggest difference. The 85-scholarship rosters of the Pac-12 teams, you’re going to see a lot more athleticism from 1-85 than what we’re used to.”

TCU thumped you pretty good last year after you were rolling along, then you finished 10-3. Did that game have a hangover effect?:

“Well, certainly the next week. We got thumped pretty good by a very good TCU team. In fact, I think they’re as good a team as there was in the country last year. But the next week we go to Notre Dame, and take nothing away from Notre Dame — they played a very good ballgame, they were coming off a bye week, they had a great plan in place and they beat us — but our mindset and the way we approached that game was not good. And that’s on me as the head coach. … I think we were still feeling a little bit sorry for ourselves and hanging our head a little bit.”

With Norm Chow as your offensive coordinator, are we looking at a brand new offense?:

“A few tweaks, but to the general fan, we’re going to be under center a lot more. That’s going to be the biggest difference. We’ve been in shotgun almost exclusively for the past several years. … But as far as the route structures in the thrown game, the general principles in the run game, it’s not a wholesale complete overhaul of the offense, just some tweaks here and there.”

Listen to Kyle Whittingham on The Jim Rome Show here

Heck, there’s even some chance that the winner ends up playing for the national championship.

Just for a little icing on the cake, ESPN College Gameday will be broadcasting from Salt Lake City, but that’s been far from the most distracting thing this week for the Horned Frogs. With the Big East looking to move to a 10-team football conference, TCU’s name has been thrown around plenty.

If the Horned Frogs are thinking about following Utah right on out of the Mountain West, Gary Patterson’s not ready to spill the beans.

TCU coach Gary Patterson joined ESPN Radio with The Scott Van Pelt Show to discuss his team’s stout defense, quarterback Andy Dalton, how the rise in the BCS has changed TCU’s fanbase, how the Horned Frogs have rebounded after losing guys who went in the NFL draft, if TCU should be in the title game if it remains undefeated and the potential move to the Big East (hint: he doesn’t say much about it).

On the key to becoming the top-ranked scoring defense in the country:

“Number one, a lot of it has to do with our offense. It’s really controlled the football. If you only have to play 50 to 60 plays a game, it gives you an opportunity to be a lot better than you do if you play 80 or 90. I think our kids have kind of grown up. Early in the season, we were giving up easy touchdowns because we weren’t hunting together. We’ve done a really good job of coming together.”

On quarterback Andy Dalton:

“I think any coach in the country would tell you, [they'd like to have] a fifth-year quarterback that’s won as many ballgames as he has. He’s 33-3, or whatever it is, in the last X amount of games that we’ve been a part of in the last three years. You know on and off the field he’s going to handle himself in the right way. He’s the coach’s dream.

On how things have changed now that TCU has established itself as a premier program:

“I tell you what has happened. … I think 13 years ago, when we came here, I think they were averaging 12 or 13,000. I think we’re going to end up averaging almost 42,000 a game here at home. Only 8,000 students, because being a private school, and knowing there’s only X amount of alumni in the Metroplex, for us to average that many, that means we’ve acquired Frog fans that graduated from other schools. … I’m sure that bar has been raised. It used to be win or tie and now it’s just win.”

On how the Horned Frogs rebounded from losing guys to the NFL Draft:

“Obviously, as a head coach, when you lose a first- and a second-round draft choice that made as many plays as Jerry Hughes and Darryl Washington did, and two senior corners, you’d be concerned. We’ve been able to side-step some of those things. … They’ve kind of grown up and it’s been more of a play defense by committee, where everybody’s had their part. We still have some good players, some guys that are still gonna get drafted, some guys that are still gonna graduate, but as a general rule, we’ve stepped up.”

On whether the Horned Frogs deserve a title shot if they finish undefeated:

“Obviously I’m going to stick up for my kids. If, at the end of the season, we can be unbeaten, then I think you can have a strong conversation and you can see where everybody else is. But you know me, I’ve always been honest about my team and always been honest about the game and where everybody sits. At that point, if we could be in that position and I watch how everybody else plays of those teams that will be at the top in the next four weeks and kind of conclude what I think. If I think that we belong when I see the other three, four, five teams play, and believe that we can play with any of them and should have that opportunity, then I’ll say so. If not, I’ll say we’re a good football team and we deserve to be in a BCS game, but by not choosing us, they made the right decision. … But I’m going to stick up for my football team and if they keep playing like they are, I’d say that I’d probably say, yes, we should have that opportunity.”

On the Big East rumors:

“Don’t start me in that conversation, I’m just trying to beat Utah. … Right now, there’s only one thing that’s been on my mind and that’s the Utah Utes. … Right now it’s for the betterment of my team and my fans. I’d be doing them a disservice if I did think about anything else.”

Listen to Gary Patterson on ESPN Radio here (Interview begins at 34:40)

But just days after adding Boise State to the 2011 mix, Utah was gone, bolting for greener pastures in the Pac-10 starting next season.

Now, despite a 9-3 bowl record against teams from automatic qualifying conferences, the Mountain West appears to be right back at square one in its crusade to “join the party.” It’s a fight that has been spearheaded by commissioner Craig Thompson, but the league’s coaches, including BYU head man Bronco Mendenhall, have been right there to reinforce the argument.

Bronco Mendenhall joined ESPN Las Vegas with Steve Cofield and Dave Cokin to discuss why BYU isn’t necessarily an attraction to some conferences, the Cougars’ biggest rival bolting the league and how he thinks the top non-BCS teams would fare in the top conferences.

On policing players who use social media:

“We can’t be with the players when they leave the practice field, we can’t be with them when they go to close, we can’t be with them at night, so if you don’t simply just ask them and trust them to do what you want them to do, then you recruited the wrong guys. That’s really the simple way I go about it. … If there’s a problem, they’re held accountable and they wish they hadn’t done whatever they did.”

On enforcing rules:

“What I’ve found is I lead the team more by principle than by exact rules. The rules kind of paint you into a box. You’re trying to create all these different situations that you’re looking at your book, ‘What did I do to this one? What did I do to that one?’ We simply go on with ‘This is what I ask you to do and use good judgment.’ … Most of the time it works well. … The kids at BYU, for the most part, are coming to that school because they want a very different experience and it’s relatively easy to manage them.”

On the reaction of fans and the team to Utah leaving the Mountain West Conference after this year:

“I think, in terms of the reaction, you would probably have every gamut. You would have those who couldn’t wait to see them go. You’d have those that are sad to see them go, those that are mad that they’re going and we’re not going, those that are sad that the rivalry will change. I think you have the entire gamut. Really, the bottom line is the rivalry will not be the same. We’re not in the same league anymore.”

On what Utah brings to the Pac-10:

“It’s interesting because one of the things that, among coaches in the Mountain West Conference, we have always been acknowledging that versus the Pac-10 over the past five years, we’ve beaten the Pac-10 with a one-game advantage. We were always interested in saying we were actually outperforming them. Now, is the Pac-10 really superior? It’ll be interesting to see. I think Utah will go in and do very well, quite frankly, because I think they’re a good football team.”

On BYU’s attractiveness to other leagues in terms of realignment:

“BYU is so unique and we’re not appealing to a lot of conferences. Once you add a faith-based component, and that is the main reason that school exists, [it's tough]. If you were to say ‘Is attendance the reason? Are number of wins the reason you wouldn’t be selected?’ You’d say all those things, revenue generated, TV exposure, all those things are very strong. The bottom line is, for any BYU fan to acknowledge, is we’re not any other school and we won’t be appealing to many conferences because of the faith-based nature.”

On how the top Mountain West Conference teams would fare in the top conferences:

“My argument would be, right now, if you took Boise, you took BYU, you took TCU or Utah and put them in any conference, they would all do very well and hold their own. I think anyone that follows college football would acknowledge that. For someone to then wave the magic wand and have to wait to be invited. I mean, in the meantime, we’ve got to play our way in. This conference has to continue to get better and play our way in.”

Listen to the entire interview with Bronco Mendenhall on ESPN Las Vegas here

Being in a BCS conference will lead to more exposure and hopefully a shot at the National Championship.  After going undefeated two seasons ago and beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, they should have had a shot at playing for the BCS Championship game.  Now if they do run the table again and no other school is undefeated, they would most definitely be in the title game.  With USC and a few other schools down in the Pac 10, Utah should hit the ground running when they join the conference in 2011.  Being regionally close to the Pac 10, Utah has always fought for most of the same recruits sought after by the Pac 10 powerhouses.  Now that they are a part of it, Utah should be able to overcome the small-school mentality that most recruits have.    

Kyle Whittingham joined KJR in Seattle to talk about how deciding to move to the Pac 10 Conference being a long process, how much joining the Pac 10 will have an impact on recruiting, and whether it happened in the past that recruits didn’t want to come and play at Utah because it wasn’t in a BCS conference.

On deciding to move to the Pac 10 Conference being a long process:

“It was no question about it.  It has been in the conversation at the University of Utah as far as trying to gain entrance into the Pac 10 and speculating on that and obviously it became a reality just last week and we’re excited and it is good for the university on a bunch of different levels, academically, financially, athletically it is a big plus for us and like I said we couldn’t be more excited about joining the Pac 10, Pac 12 or whatever name we are going to have attached to it there.”

On them joining the Pac 10 in 2011:

“Correct.  We will begin competition in the Pac in 2011.  Colorado, it is my understanding that they come in 2012.”

How much joining the Pac 10 will have an impact on recruiting:

“We are going after the best players we can find.  That doesn’t change in that respect.  What we have now is a level playing field.  In the previous conference, the Mountain West Conference, which is very competitive, very good conference but it is not an AQ-status conference and that really is a hindrance in recruiting as was a hindrance to us.  So what we have now is have the ability to not have that be a negative for the recruits because we can go in and say that we are in a BCS conference and that is really just the most important facet is that right there.  Now obviously the bar is raised.  The Pac 10 has exceptional teams, football-wise.  You have got USC and Oregon, a bunch of good football programs in that league and that is also a selling point to recruits, is ‘Hey you have got a chance to play with top notch competition.”

Whether it happened in the past that recruits didn’t want to come and play at Utah because it wasn’t in a BCS conference:

“No question about it and we have gone head-to-head with the Pac 10 several years now and we have won our fair share of those battles, but the majority of those battles that we lost, that was most typically the overriding factor, was ‘Hey we want to be in a BCS conference where we are guaranteed to be in the Rose Bowl if we take care of business and that type of thing.  So like I said, we don’t have that stigma attached to us anymore and we are hoping that it will make recruiting that much more productive.”

Listen to Kyle Whittingham on KJR in Seattle with Ian Furness

Probably the main reason for that is that the commissioners running their respective conferences are all fairly new, smart, aggressive personalities that scratched and clawed their ways to a virtual standstill. Larry Scott is one of those new commissioners. He has led the Pac 10 for less than a year since running the Women’s Tennis Association for six years. Don’t laugh. Scott, a former “professional tennis player” (he made $69,740, won one match and was never ranked in the top 200), grew revenue in the sports by 250% in that short time, making his athletes far richer in the process as well. So when the Pac 10 went looking for someone to shake things up, they turned to the Harvard educated executive, who tried to do just that. His result? For now, Colorado and Utah. But with a TV deal in the works and the idea of a super conference fresh in his mind, he may be done for now, but probably not for long.

Larry Scott joined the Zone 1280 in Salt Lake City with the Gordon Monson Show to talk about Utah, the future of conference expansion, the Pac 10 and the NCAA’s role in all of this.

On what Utah brings to the Pac 10:

“What hits me today is the impact this means beyond athletics, what this means to the university, the faculty and having the governor here to talk about what it means to the state is terrific. We wouldn’t be here today if Utah wasn’t the prestigious academic and research university. When you think about the Pac 10 schools, that’s a hallmark. We’ve got some of the finest universities in the country. While the focus is often on sports and football in particular, the make up of conferences is often determined by academic affinity as well. That’s first and foremost. Athletically, the University of Utah has distinguished itself as having some of the finest programs in the country. The football success is obvious. Some of the stats rolled out today, some of our teams have learned that the hard way just how strong Utah is that’s for sure… The Pac 10 has won more NCAA titles than any other – 100 more than the Big Ten our nearest rival. That commitment to broad base sports excellence is something that’s very important to us. And lastly, geographically, it’s a great fit. With Colorado, we have a travel pair here. It moves us into the Mountain time zone with the best schools in the Rocky Mountain area.”

On if he thinks conference expansion has settled down:

“I think it has settled down for now, but I don’t think the idea of the super-conference has gone away… It was a very compelling vision. At some point in time, it will crop up again. You may see super conferences in the future. For now the dust has settled. The net result is that the Big Ten has gone to 12, the Pac 10 has gone to 12 and the Big 12 has gone to ten. If you can make sense of that, I think that’s going to be where it is for awhile.”

On how close we came to a super conference explosion in college sports:

“Things were actually moving along at a fairly orderly pace, really until the Big 12 issued an ultimatum to their schools and basically gave them a week to come back and tell them are you in or your out. That created a lot of harried discussions between the Big Ten and Missouri and Nebraska. And that’s when we moved on Colorado because, under any circumstances, whether the super conference was going to happen or not, we wanted to preserve this option which is the one we have today, which is Colorado and Utah. This was always in our focus – never wanted to lose sight of that even though we were working on parallel tracks. The other thing came very close.”

On how this plays into his new role as Pac 10 commissioner:

“The reason I was hired when commissioner Hanson stepped down, they wanted someone from outside college sports. They wanted someone to take a fresh look, present a bold vision and have a growth strategy. There was a sense that, while the Pac 10 has been so excellent, being on the West Coast, we had to rest on our laurels a little bit, while other conferences and other schools were out there being very competitive and very aggressive. My mandate was to put together a growth strategy for the conference, especially in light of the upcoming media negotiations we have in 2011. We’re looking for ways to market the conference more aggressively. As part of that, I put expansion on the table. I said,’If we’re ever going to look at it, now’s the time.’ Once we lock into a TV deal, that’s likely to be for 12-15 years.”

And on the role of the NCAA in conference alignment:

“Conference alignment is really left for presidents of universities to decide. Not something the NCAA should legislate. The NCAA’s primary initiative is to run championships and set rules for an even playing field.”

Listen to Larry Scott on the Zone 1280 in Salt Lake City on the Gordon Monson Show.

On how things have changed for the Utah Utes program since going 13-0 and defeated Alabama in the Sugar Bowl:

“Well, first of all, it was a very busy offseason. There was a lot of national attention and things of that nature all throughout the offseason – which is a good thing. People wanted me to come speak to their groups and that type of thing. You know, any positive exposure our program gets, the more the better. So, it was very hectic in that regard. The upcoming season, the expectations – we have the same expectations on ourselves each and every year and that’s to go out and win the Mountain West Conference championship. Anything above and beyond that is great. I tell our team all the time – don’t worry about anything you can’t control; just focus on what you can control and that is winning the conference championship. If you go out and take care of business within your conference, you’ll go out and win a championship.”

On what inroads, if any, have been made by the Mountain West Conference to get more equitable access to the Bowl Championship Series:

“Well, our conference commissioner Craig Thompson worked his tail off all offseason long trying to make inroads in to the BCS. You know, what we’re looking for is equality and equal accessibility. And that’s something that’s an ongoing fight. We did sign the agreement to continue the situation as outlined, which you know, is something we’re not excited about. But we really had no alternative at this point in time. But you know, you’ve got Congress talking about it and anytime Congress gets involved, you know there’s some pretty heavy duty stuff going on. So you know, the BCS, we’re not trying to make it sound like the BCS is a real bad deal. The BCS has been very good to the University of Utah. We’ve had twice now where we’ve played on a national platform. Once in the Fiesta Bowl in ’05 and then the Sugar Bowl this year. So it’s been great exposure for our program and it’s been a positive thing in a lot of ways. But what we want is just the opportunity, access to the BCS games just like everybody else. And as importantly, the funds. There’s a lot of money out there and to be excluded from that most years, we just don’t think that’s fair.”

Listen here to Whittingham on WKNR in Cleveland

I’m all for a college football playoff.  I think the BCS is a joke and if two undefeated teams meat in the BCS Championship Game, it’s nothing more than dumb luck.  I’m glad President Obama talked about changing this in an ESPN interview before he was elected President.  I just have a problem with Orrin Hatch wanting to get involved after the University of Utah went undefeated and two teams that had one loss (at the time) were playing for the BCS Championship.  Utah had a legitimate beef, but why didn’t Hatch get involved when USC or Auburn had beefs in the past?

I actually don’t have a problem with government getting involved with sports as I do feel like sports brings people and communities together regardless of race, religion, or economic backgrounds.

Senator Orrin Hatch joined 1280 the Zone in Salt Lake City to discuss his Senate committee plans.

On the BCS system:

“We already have plans to look into the innermost implications of the BCS. I think it’s a pretty clear case that the BCS is exclusionary and that it has a negative impact on the schools left on the outside, which is precisely what our anti-trust laws are meant to prevent. Of course, this last year with the University of Utah, it’s a perfect illustration – the only undefeated team and of course they didn’t have the slightest chance to compete for the national championship. Make no mistake about it, I’m not itching the get the Senate involved in the regulation of college football…but there are people right now with the power to reform the BCS system…I’d eventually like to see a playoff system but quite honestly, anything is better than what they have right now.”

More on the BCS:

“The amount of money that’s at stake with the BCS is unprecedented in the history of college sports and the money that’s generated greatly benefits the schools that are able to participate as well as the students at those schools. The problem is that this money is not distributed according to the success of the programs; it’s decided in advance before a single game is played. The bigger concern is ensuring that every school is treated fairly. It’s more than just a question of playoffs or wanting to see teams like Utah or BYU get a chance for the national spotlight…BCS is bad for consumers, it’s bad for the fans of college football and it’s bad for the schools. There’s a lot of money at stake here and I think it’s more than enough to warrant the attention of Congress.”

More from Senator Hatch and the full interview after the jump.

Is it about greed?

“It’s greed, no question about that, but it’s a lot of elitism too.”

What kind of playoff would he favor? Does he like the 16-team format used in lower divisions?

“I think it’s gonna have to be that way because let’s face it, how long can you keep college kids playing football during a season? It’s gotta be something that’s reasonable and could fairly resolve in a real national champion… I don’t know what would be the best way yet.”

Listen to Senator Orrin Hatch on 1280 the Zone in Salt Lake City with Monson and Graham

‘I guess we were the Rocky Balboa coming into this thing and our guys really relished that role and it turned out to be a good situation for us.’

Whittingham has carried the torch Urban Meyer left when he left for Florida with aplomb

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