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The Utah Utes are the athletics teams of the University of Utah. They are named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the "Runnin' Utes"; the women's basketball team is known as the "Lady Utes"; and the women's gymnastics team is known as the "Red Rocks."
[edit] Varsity sports
[edit] Football
The University of Utah college football program began in 1892 and has played home games at Rice-Eccles Stadium since 1927. The Utes have a record of 11-3 in bowl games, which is the highest percentage in the nation for teams who have been to more than 10 bowls. They have won 23 conference championships, including 6 in a row from 1928 to 1933 when they were part of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
After a 28-year stretch of not playing in a bowl game, Utah football experienced a resurgence in the early 1990s under head coach Ron McBride. The Utes played Washington State in the 1992 Copper Bowl, losing to the Cougars 31-28, and reached their peak under McBride when they finished the 1994 season ranked 10th in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and recorded a 16-13 victory over Arizona in the Freedom Bowl. The team has won their last seven bowl games -- making their bowl winning streak the second longest in the nation -- and are the only Mountain West Conference (MWC) team to play in a BCS bowl.
The Utes have a 61-32 (.663) record since the beginning of the 2000 season. Along the way, Utah engineered an 18-game winning streak and went to bowl games all three seasons, winning all three. They also produced the best season in school history in 2004, when the Utes were 12-0 and became the first school from a non-Bowl Championship Series conference to play in a BCS bowl game. The Utes played the Big East Conference champion University of Pittsburgh Panthers in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl, winning 35-7. The Utes finished the season ranked #4 in the AP poll. Later that year Alex Smith, who was Utah's quarterback for the 2003 and 2004 seasons, was drafted #1 by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2005 NFL Draft. He became the first player in the state of Utah to ever be drafted first. This culminated in the University of Utah becoming the first school in history to produce two #1 professional draft picks in the same year when Andrew Bogut became the #1 pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. Utah is currently coached by Kyle Whittingham, who took over for Urban Meyer after Meyer left Utah for Florida after two seasons with the Utes. In Wittingham's three years the Utes are 22-13 overall and 12-10 in conference play and have won three bowl games (the Emerald Bowl, the Armed Forces Bowl, the Poinsettia Bowl).
Notable players to have played for the University of Utah are NFL Hall of Fame member Larry Wilson, Super Bowl Head Coach Winner George Seifert, Manny Fernandez, Scott Mitchell, Kevin Dyson, Luther Ellis, Jamal Anderson, Mike Anderson, Bob Trumpy, Roy Jefferson, Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers, Jordan Gross also of the Carolina Panthers, Alex Smith and Eric Weddle.
[edit] Conference championships
[edit] Bowl games
| BOWL HISTORY |
FINAL RANKING |
| Date |
Bowl |
Score |
Coach |
AP |
Coaches |
| January 2, 1939 |
Sun Bowl |
Utah |
26 |
New Mexico |
0 |
Ike Armstrong |
| December 19, 1964 |
Liberty Bowl |
Utah |
32 |
West Virginia |
6 |
Ray Nagel |
|
#14 |
| December 29, 1992 |
Copper Bowl |
Washington State |
31 |
Utah |
28 |
Ron McBride |
| December 30, 1993 |
Freedom Bowl |
USC |
28 |
Utah |
21 |
Ron McBride |
| December 27, 1994 |
Freedom Bowl |
Utah |
16 |
Arizona |
13 |
Ron McBride |
#10 |
#8 |
| December 27, 1996 |
Copper Bowl |
Wisconsin |
38 |
Utah |
10 |
Ron McBride |
| December 18, 1999 |
Las Vegas Bowl |
Utah |
17 |
Fresno State |
16 |
Ron McBride |
| December 25, 2001 |
Las Vegas Bowl |
Utah |
10 |
USC |
6 |
Ron McBride |
| December 31, 2003 |
Liberty Bowl |
Utah |
17 |
Southern Miss |
0 |
Urban Meyer |
#21 |
#21 |
| January 1, 2005 |
Fiesta Bowl |
Utah |
35 |
Pittsburgh |
7 |
Urban Meyer |
#4 |
#5 |
| December 29, 2005 |
Emerald Bowl |
Utah |
38 |
Georgia Tech |
10 |
Kyle Whittingham |
| December 23, 2006 |
Armed Forces Bowl |
Utah |
25 |
Tulsa |
13 |
Kyle Whittingham |
| December 20, 2007 |
Poinsettia Bowl |
Utah |
35 |
Navy |
32 |
Kyle Whittingham |
[edit] Men's basketball
-
The Runnin' Utes basketball program has the 9th most wins amonge college basketball programs.[1] The Utes have made 28 NCAA Tournament appearances, which ranks 7th all-time, while the Utes 10 outright conference championships (28 championships overall) is the 5th best in NCAA history. The Utes are coached by first-year coach and former Michigan State assistant Jim Boylen, replacing Ray Giacoletti.
Individual success has been a big part of Utah athletics, as many successful players and coaches have been a part of the rich Utah tradition. In 2005 Andrew Bogut was selected #1 in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, making the University of Utah the only school in NCAA history to produce the #1 draft pick in both the NBA and NFL in the same year (Alex Smith). Other notable players that have gone on to play in the NBA are Andre Miller, Keith Van Horn, Michael Doleac (who recently won the NBA championship with the Miami Heat), Danny Vranes and Tom Chambers. The Utes have also been coached by several top NCAA coaches, including Vadal Peterson -- the winningest coach in Utah basketball history, hall of fame coach Jack Gardner, Bill Foster and Rick Majerus.
The Utes have played in four Final Fours, winning the 1944 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Utah also added an NIT title in 1947. Jerry Chambers was named MVP of the 1966 Final Four in which Utah lost to eventual champion Texas Western (UTEP) and the legendary coach Don Haskins. They also played for the 1998 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, losing to the Kentucky Wildcats.
[edit] Conference Championships
[edit] Post-season tournaments
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Utah Utes Head Men's Basketball Coaches |
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[edit] Women's basketball
The program's most successful season came in the 2005-2006 campaign. The Lady Utes, who finished in 2nd place in the Mountain West Conference, won the conference tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time in school history. After getting by Middle Tennessee in the first round of the 2006 Women's NCAA Tournament, the Lady Utes surprised the 4th seeded Arizona State Sun Devils to advance to the Sweet 16 for only the second time in school history. There the Lady Utes faced 8th seeded Boston College and gutted out a 3 point win, advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Making the regional finals, the Lady Utes became the first team in Mountain West Conference history to ever do so. In doing so, the Lady Utes would go on to play 2nd seeded, and eventual national champion, Maryland. The game went into OT, but Maryland prevailed and the Utes amazing run came to an end.
In the 2006 WNBA Draft Lady Ute guard Shona Thorburn was selected by Minnesota Lynx with the 7th pick and Kim Smith, a forward for the Lady Utes, was selected 13th overall by the Sacramento Monarchs.
[edit] Women's Gymnastics
[edit] Post-season History
[edit] Skiing
| UTAH SKIING |
| Men's National Championships (1) |
1981 |
| Women's National Championships (1) |
1978 |
| Combined National Championships (9) |
1983 • 1984 • 1986
1987 • 1988 • 1993
1996 • 1997 • 2003 |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ College Basketball - 100 Greatest Programs. D. A. Resler.
