How long has Utah used the term "Runnin" in their nickname? It doesn't really seem to go with "Utes". It seems they may have lifted it at some point from UNLV.
The term Runnin Utes goes back to the Jack Gardner era (1940's), so it's a really old name. And no the Utes didn't steal it from UNLV, if I remember right the Rebels added runnin in the early 70's.
it really doesnt matter, we all know who does the runnin in the mwc....utes dont run, they throw it inside erytime.......utah may have been around longer, thats sad that the UNLV Runnin Rebels have way more tradition than the utes.....the tradition, better players, coaches, locale, respect, i can go on and on......utes had a good year when alex smith was around for football, and van horn in basketball, no consistency though.......smith will never be randall cunningham, and van horn is no larry johnson......we do have a college basketball championship under our belt guys, cmon!!!!!!!! silence lackies.........
I can't even describe how far off you are. There is not a chance UNLV has more tradition then Utah. Utah is the #10 most winning basketball program in the nation. Utah has 3 college basketball national championships since the early 1900's. UNLV didn't even exist back then. There is no comparison in tradition.
I'll give you lately but not in tradition. The only reason UNLV keeps winning the conference tournament is that it is always held in Vegas. I think they should go back to rotating the tournament. It used to be played in the Salt Palace.
Anyway, do your history before you start spouting off crap like UNLV has more tradition. What a joke!
I would have to agree with casablanca on this one . . . . tradition and longevity belong to the Utes . . . . but lately UNLV has den a remarkable job in the tournament. I would agree with most MWC fans that UNLV has a distinct advantage in the conference tourney due to the fact that they are at home. I really don't care how much money the conference is making, they need to do two things for the good of the conference.
One, pull the tourney out of LV and take it to a neutral court. If that is not a good idea, then at least give the regular season champion the home court advantage like other conferences do. This helps ensure that the best (well, most of the time) team is the one that advances to the NCAA's.
The second, would be to dump the mountain . . . . the pathetic excuse of a network that the conference has that most fans of the conference cannot watch at home. Comcast, who owns the mtn, insists that they are negotiating in good faith with the cable companies to get a deal done . . . bull! How can they say that when they have billboards up all over Utah saying Comcast, the exclusive home of the Mountain West Conference! Hmmm, seems a bad deal to me . . . . they FINALLY got a deal done with Direct TV, but still nothing from Dish . . . . .
Hope the conference can continue to rise up and challenge and eventually become a power conference, but they have a long way to go!!!
I am a Runnin' Rebel fan, I do agree that the Utes have been around longer. Both teams deserve the name. The tourney in T&M is an advantage, but it can also hurt the Rebs at the same time...what would have happened to us if we had lost to TCU? I speculate that we would not have got into the post season. But as for the championship, I think BYU would have choked it up regardless of who they faced in the final, they tend to drop the big games. I hope you guys beat BYU in football 08!
