SALT LAKE CITY — Canceling the Utah-BYU rivalry game was a surpise to all, even former Runnin' Utes center Dallin Bachynski.
For more than a decade, BYU and Utah were playing in the same conference. There was a home game in Provo and a home game in Salt Lake City since 2010. On June 17, 2010, the University of Utah joined the Pac-12 Conference and BYU was left behind. The rivalry game was now played as a non-conference game with each team getting a home game only once a year.
When the news broke that the University of Utah wouldn't be playing BYU in Provo next season, Bachynski too was shocked and couldn't believe that the rivalry was coming to an end.