What’s that? You mean you don’t get to celebrate your birthday the entire week? Fortunately my birthday was on a Tuesday, which means I got to own the rest of the week as well.

That’s how the Dicksons roll.

Of course, Tuesday was the devastating rain and hail storm in Orem, and on Saturday when we held a celebration at the park, a microburst had us closing up shop early.

Somebody isn’t happy about me celebrating my birthday this year, apparently.

Thanks to family and a friends (and especially my wife, Barbara) for helping me count to a very high number this year.

Nobody you know

There has been a lot of online discussion about the preseason schedule for BYU men’s basketball, which was released this week. It’s typical of a power conference program expecting to play a bunch of Quad 1 and Quad 2 teams during conference play, but what stood out to me was there are no Utah schools on the docket.

The Cougars will play Utah twice in the Big 12, thankfully, but you won’t find Utah Valley, Utah State, Weber State, Southern Utah or Utah Tech among BYU’s 11-game non-conference schedule.

I was curious if this have ever happened before, so I spent some time digging through the archives.

What I found is pretty crazy: BYU, Utah and Utah State were all members of the Mountain State’s Athletic Conference once upon a time, up until 1962 when the Cougars and Utes joined the Western Athletic Conference. The Aggies became an independent and for a number of years, BYU and Utah State played two non-conference games against each other. Eventually, the Cougars added Weber State along with a few matchups with Utah Valley and Southern Utah.

The 2024 preseason will be the first time BYU hasn’t played a non-conference game against a Utah-based team since 1961. In 2020, BYU played five Utah teams in the preseason (Westminster, Utah Valley, Utah State, Utah and Weber State). Now, no one.

That’s a shame, because in-state games, to quote former Cougar coach Mark Pope, are magic. There is something special about the Cougars squaring off with the Wolverines, Aggies, Wildcats, Thunderbirds and Trailblazers in any sport. And as Brett Hein of the Ogden Standard-Examiner pointed out, all of that guaranteed money that goes to teams that play BYU in the Marriott Center during the preseason is now headed out of state.

Maybe this is a one-time deal, but right now the in-state matchups are a casualty of conference realignment.

Wake me up

I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to take a nap when I was younger.

Long journeys

One of the interesting aspects of conference realignment is how it affects travel. In college football, power conference teams fly charter so they’re not stuffed into coach with crying babies or anything, but I still think travel can have an affect on players.

During its final year of independence, BYU made six road trips totaling 13,540 miles (round trip). In their first year of Big 12 play, the Cougars barnstormed 15,548 miles. With the addition of Utah, Colorado, Arizona State and Arizona to the Big 12 (and the subtraction of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC) BYU will travel 11,604 miles in 2024.

By contrast, the Big 12 favorite, Utah, traveled 9,038 miles for five Pac-12 road games last season. The Utes will log 12,602 miles during Big 12 play in 2024, including a 4,642-mile round-trip trek to UCF at the end of the regular season.

Familiar faces

They will get there

While the BYU football team posted a 5-7 record last season, the BYU women’s soccer and volleyball teams were tearing it up as usual. For some Cougar fans, the success of those women’s programs can help offset the struggles of the football program in the fall.

BYU women’s soccer went to the Women’s College Cup for the second time in three seasons in 2023 and the women’s volleyball ended up hosting the first two round of the NCAA Tournament in their first season in the Big 12.

Both teams lost a ton of experience and talent to graduation so you might have to be a little bit patient with them this fall. However, Jennifer Rockwood, now beginning her 30th season at the helm, and Heather Olmstead, with the highest active winning percentage in the country (.869), are two of the best coaches around. Give them some time with their young groups and you’ll see great results.

Hyped fall camp moment of the week

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham told reporters his tight end room has six players “in the mix,” which turned into a headline on KSL Sports.com that read, “Utah Tight End Room is Six-Deep According to Kyle Whittingham.”

I guess we need to get ready for the “16 personnel” look (six tight ends) on the field for the Utes this year. Who needs offensive linemen or wide receivers, anyway?

That’s all for now, but for this: Stand up and salute Florida International tight end Rocky Beers, Auburn offensive lineman Jaden Muskrat and Kentucky defensive lineman Octavious Oxendine. This is our last weekend without college football and we’re all here for it.

Have a great week.