I'm just putting this here as a placeholder for memory's sake--December 19, 2015 was one of the most weirdly satisfying days in Utah sports history. When I realized we were playing Duke in the Garden and BYU in the Vegas Bowl on the same day, December 19, I thought "uh oh". The odds were decidedly against it being an overall great day to be a Ute fan--1-1 or even 0-2 was a lot more likely than 2-0; 2-0 was well below 50%.
Yet, there's not been much celebration as you'd expect about 2-0. I wonder why? Is it because we've been here a lot before by now? Maybe somewhat. I think it has a lot to do how in each game Utah was in a position of improbably having the game in hand--improbable at the point in the game in which it apparently had the game in hand--and then very nearly gave up the game in bizarre or very weird even historic fashion.
Also, as Ted Miller recently wrote, playing BYU in the bowl game this year was not, at least for Ute fans, a celebratory occasion. For Ute fans it was a literally painful, joyless experience. Part of it has to do with the fact that we had hopes for getting to a Big Bowl. Part of it has to do with the fact that, for whatever psychic reasons, since Utah got into the Pac 12 its administrators and fans mostly just want to put BYU in the past. But now that we beat them, I have to say, that since we weren't in a Big Bowl, it was better to have beaten BYU than any other team that was available as an opponent.
The football team also finished with 10 wins, capping one of the best seasons in history, adding another quality win. The basketball team finally got a quality win, indeed a marquis win, this season, and may have found its point guard.
What a satisfying, albeit weirdly satisfying day for Ute fans.