Like it or not, it's a rivalry now

Nobody at BYU cares about playing Utah State, eh?

For generations now, BYU fans have written off Utah State as something of insignificance, relentlessly claiming that Utah State vs. BYU is not a rivalry. And once upon a time, given the several decade long slump of USU football, they had at least a basis for argument.

But regardless of primary rivalries (Which in this state is between the Utes and Cougars, as much as 54-10 would beg to dissuade anyone from believing that's as close as it used to be), any in-state match-up matters when its two teams at the same level of the NCAA. When BYU and Utah play, it's a rivalry. When Utah State and BYU play, it's a rivalry. When any of the above and Weber State play (in basketball at least, because of the whole "same level" thing), it's a rivalry!

To be the pretentious assholes that look at every game outside of BYU/Utah and say you don't care about this other in-state school, yet you agonize at the idea of losing them, that makes you... well... a pretentious asshole. And chances are if you look in the mirror, you'll see a Y-logo looking back at you.

This is about Utah State and BYU though, which to most people with any common sense, officially became a rivalry back in 2006 when BYU made it known that they were refusing to come play in Logan the following season. It was the epitome of a bitch move on their part. Then when the series finally resumed in the 2008-09 season with a neutral court game at Energy Solutions Arena, BYU fans attributed their lack of student body attendance to the game on their lack of caring about playing Utah State, even though their team had clearly shown that they take the Aggies seriously. So when the premiere BYU homer himself, Dick Harmon, wrote about how badly Aggie fans showed up Cougar fans, that wasn't a lack of caring, it was just a simple case of one schools fans kind of sucking.

Then, just more than a month ago, any credibility left for BYU fans claiming that there is no rivalry with USU was laid to rest when their fans flooded the field at Lavell Edwards Stadium after their football team pulled off an impressive comeback victory over the Aggies. It was the second straight game between USU and BYU where the home fans rushed the field at the end of the game. That kind of stuff only happens in rivalries.

Yet BYU fans still try and claim they don't care. They still try to act like Utah State is nothing to them. But actions speak louder than words. If they're going to refuse to play basketball at The Spectrum like they did, and if they're going to rush their football field after beating USU, and if they're going to bring 1,500 hits to this website in a matter of hours from their cougarboard thread, IT'S A RIVALRY!!!

There's only one group of fans who are capable of being as big of douchebags as to still try and deny that after all they've done to indicate a rivalry, and that is just one of so many reasons why everybody hates BYU.

You may now proceed to tell me how classless I am.