Report: Michigan, Utah close to scheduling Home-and-home Football Series

By Kevin Kelley -
Brady Hoke (2012 Sugar Bowl)
Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

The long-term football scheduling agreement between the Big Ten and Pac-12 isn’t set to begin until 2017, but that isn’t stopping some teams from getting in on the action beforehand.

Chris Balas of TheWolverine.com tweeted today that Michigan is close to signing a home-and-home football series with the Utah Utes. The series would reportedly begin in Ann Arbor in 2014 and close at Utah on a Thursday to open the 2015 season:

Michigan and Utah have played twice in their history with both games being played in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines won 10-7 in 2002 and the Utes evened the series with a 25-23 win in 2008.

If the series pans out, Michigan would need one more game to complete their 2014 non-conference schedule. The Wolverines open the 2014 season against Appalachian State and then travel to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish return the trip to Ann Arbor in 2015, which is currently Michigan’s only game for that season.

Utah has yet to announce a non-conference game for 2014, and will host Utah State in 2015. Presumably, Utah will continue their yearly series against in-state rival BYU. The two schools have played every year since 1946.

Northwestern and Stanford got a jump-start on the long-term agreement back in March when they scheduled a 2015-16 home-and-home series. The two schools are also slated to meet four times between 2019 and 2022.

While the Big Ten/Pac-12 agreement should create some intriguing match-ups, it claimed a victim last month when Ohio State canceled their planned 2020-21 series against Georgia.

Football Schedules:

Comments (7)

This could actually by why there are so many rumors that the Utah-BYU rivalry is dying. Why play BYU if you can get a home and home with Michigan?

Not only that, but the two programs that were once conference rivals are drifting apart. Utah’s admission to the PAC-12 gives them a potential auto bid to the BCS (and they are with some big time powers). BYU is trying to make it on the national level a la Notre Dame (separate television deal) – although the schedule is lacking.

I feel BYU needs Utah on the schedule more than Utah needs BYU on the schedule, for SOS purposes, purely.

I’m sure most people in Utah would Cougars and Utes play, hence the word “rivalry”

How would the 2014 Michigan non-conference schedule be complete in 2014? AppSt, ND, and Utah is 3, and unless I missed the memo, the B1G still plays an 8-game conference schedule… so that leaves one game, though I fully expect it to be a MAC team like EMU or Akron.