Getting to Know CU ...
by gbruin on Jun 14, 2010 7:00 AM PDT
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Hey Bruins Nation! Let's welcome to the newest member of the Pacific Ten...or Eleven, or whatever we're going to be. The University of Colorado announced last week that it will accept an invitation to become the eleventh institution to to join our conference, beginning competition in 2012 (Mayans permitting).
As an exile in Colorado, I'd like to introduce BN to our new friends and soon-to-be conference rivals. I've had a pretty close connection to CU and CU sports since I moved here in 1996. I spent about 5,000 hours in one year doing a surgery internship at the CU med school, a connection I was thrilled to finish and put behind me. CU football was then coming off a very successful run under previous coach Bill McCartney, and they dominated the college news in Denver. I also had a sentimental link to their new head coach, a young guy in his first head coaching gig named Rick Neuheisel (more on him later). So I got tied into CU when I got here, and have been watching and listening to the locals ever since. Hopefully I can give BN'ers a good preview of our new conference mates, the University of Colorado Buffaloes.
This week, I will introduce the school and the surrounding area. The next article will focus on the history and current state of the CU athletic program.
Disclaimer: I'm on the record as being against expansion, joining the camp with many distinguished BN geezers, in the hope of one day being both distinguished and a geezer here, too. But I am a purist and a traditionalist. The round-robin format in the Pac-10 was ideal. The B(C)S has not solved the problem of naming a consensus national champion in football. We have mortgaged conference alliances and bowl tie-ins and decades-old rivalries for nothing but money. I really want to not give a crap about the stupid East Coast and it's neglect of everyone west of, say, Boston College. But time and economics don't care what I think.
So, since expansion happens, I am glad Larry Scott started with Colorado. CU will be a good fit for our conference.
History
The University of Colorado at Boulder is the flagship of the publicly funded four-campus CU system (incl Colorado Springs, Denver, and the med school). The Boulder campus was established in 1876, just before Colorado was accepted for statehood. A beautiful history of the school is documented here. The original building, Old Main, is still a prominent part of campus.
Several buildings were added over the next few decades as the campus grew slowly at first. Efforts were made to preserve a rural Italian architectural theme as the campus grew. I can attest it really is a very beautiful campus.
Macky Auditorium opened in 1923 as a concert hall and performance center, and bears more than a bit of resemblance to a similar building in Westwood.
CU officially became the Buffaloes in 1934, following a contest in the school paper. The official mascot today is Ralphie IV, an real live American bison who storms the field before football games, and Chip, the real live dude in a costume who is seen on the sidelines of games.
A new on-campus(!) stadium was dedicated on Homecoming Day in 1924, and following subsequent renovations and name changes, became Folsom Field. Named for former CU football coach Fred Folsom, it now holds almost 54,000. It was the site of KD's first game as UCLA head coach, and unfortunately went the way of many of KD's games. Hopefully, the Bruins will see better times here in the future. From personal experience, the CU students that day were not in the least welcoming or cool to Bruins fans, but the older alumni I spoke to after the game were very kind and classy. And, man, I wish the Rose Bowl were just across Sunset.
via ncaafootball.com
CU now occupies over 750 acres in the center of Boulder, and is home to nearly 40,000 students, faculty, and employees every day (not counting the hordes of meter cops), and is the state's 4th largest employer.
Academics
Currently, there are approximately 25,000 undergraduates, and 5,000 graduate students at CU.
CU's schools include Arts & Sciences, Architecture, Education, Engineering, the School of Law, Leeds Business School, Music, Journalism, and the graduate school.
Admission to Arts and Science is guaranteed to incoming freshmen who meet certain GPA, class rank, and SAT or ACT scores, something that many UC applicants wish were an option. This is also something for us to keep in mind when competing for recruits. The business, engineering, and architectural schools have more applicants than spots, so acceptance is not guaranteed. The average incoming GPA is about 3.7 with an SAT of 1215. The admission criteria are here. Students are on the semester system. Tuition and on-campus housing for residents is now about $20K, as fees have been rising quickly the last few years due to state budget woes - something else that UCLA and CU sadly have in common.
While CU deserves its reputation as a party school, and certainly enjoys the liberal side of life, this only reflects part of campus life. CU is also an excellent research university, particularly in the physical sciences. CU is one of 34 members of the prestigious American Association of Universities, which includes UCLA.
USN&WR ranked CU #34 in public schools in the US in 2010 (Cal #1, UCLA and UVa tied at #2), and the 2011 rankings name 13 graduate programs in the top 10 in their fields including atomic/molecular physics at #1 (tied with MIT), environmental sciences at #5, and quantum physics at #5.
CU faculty have won four Nobel prizes, and boast numerous Fulbright Scholars, MacArthur Fellowships, Guggenheim Fellowships, and other awards. Nineteen CU graduates have earned Rhodes Scholarships. Seventeen CU graduates have become NASA astronauts, including Scott Shepard (one of the Mercury 7) and Jack Swigert (Apollo 13).
Other Notable CU alumni and faculty include Byron (Whizzer) White, Supreme Court Justice; Stanislaus Ulam (mathematician & H-bomb theorist); Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple); Matt Parker and Trey Stone (South Park creators); Jake Burton (snowboard pioneer); Chris Fowler, Jim Gray, and Rick Reilly (sports journalists), and our current governor, Bill Ritter.
So, despite the fragrant "haze" lingering over Boulder, there is a lot of excellent work done there in a wide variety of fields, particularly in science. From an academic standpoint, CU certainly fits in fine behind Stanford, Cal, and UCLA in the Pac-10.
Boulder
Located in Boulder, a city we lovingly refer to as 25 square miles surrounded by reality, CU has eclectic surroundings. Boulder is liberal enough to make Berkeley natives feel at home, and the combo of Boulder and Berkeley is apparently enough to chase Texas A&M to the SEC. Boulder features great food and lots of culture. Local highlights include the Pearl Street Mall just north of campus and "The Hill" west of campus. Boulder sits at the base of the Rocky Mountains and adjacent to the famous Flatirons, which, by local ordinance, are required to be in the background of every photograph taken within city limits.
via api.ning.com
Denver, Ft Collins (home of CSU and the New Belgium and ODell breweries), Rocky Mountain National Park, the gambling towns of Blackhawk and Central City, and world class skiing and rafting are within an hour of Boulder, while world class climbing, hiking, mountain and road biking can be found simply across the street. So there are plenty of things to distract the undergrads, and plenty of things to attract visitors and lots and lots of Bruins for road trips.
Well, that's a brief intro to our new conference mates, CU Boulder. I'm sure the folks at Ralphie Report can give us more of an insider's flavor as to life as a Buff. They run a great blog over there, so I encourage you to check them out and welcome them to the party. Next time, I'll go a bit into the football and basketball programs, as that is where our main match ups will occur - they can't touch our baseball team (they dropped the program several years ago) and we are no match for them in skiing (they have 17 NCAA titles).
Once again, welcome to the Pac, Buffaloes. It's great to be living in Pac-10 land again, (and without having to actually move, because I hate that). Now, if we only had a beach and some Double-Doubles...
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Great idea
and appreciate the background. Even if I end up in Pac-whatever land here in Kansas, at least you stand a chance of getting a Double-Double before you reach the end of geezerdom…not gonna happen here. There’s a bumper sticker here similar to your comment about Boulder, though. “Lawrence: 27 square miles of reality surrounded by Kansas.” I’m jealous you’re in Pac territory, as I don’t think it’s going to happen for me.
In the immortal words of the pin I got while an undergrad: Roses are red, violets are blue...f*** $C.
Rivalry
What is the sentiment around Denver/Boulder area on the topic of who should come to Pac-10 with Colorado. What are their thoughts on Utah?
It looks like it might just be Colorado and Utah to Pac-10. I am excited about Colorado but don’t care about Utah at all. I don’t see what we get by adding Utah to Pac-10. Don’t see how they fit in our conferen
PS: great preview!
Completely agree
about Utah.
In the immortal words of the pin I got while an undergrad: Roses are red, violets are blue...f*** $C.
Not much talk about rivals here
CU’s biggest rival, in its own mind, was Nebraska. But like the big dog that is merely annoyed by the yapping puppy, Nebraska never really considered CU a rival. Either way, the Huskers went to the land of boring football and are out.
In a parallel vein, CSU sees big daddy CU as its major rival. CU, however, would never condescend to calling the Rams a rival. And they aren’t coming.
Missouri and Kansas, not so much. Just conference foes, but nothing really historic or emotional between the schools. In fact Missouri even gave Colorado an extra down once so it could win a title. And the geography with those two isn’t good for the Pac. So I don’t see it, and I hope neither come.
Colorado and Utah don’t really have any connection other than arguing over who gets better snow (Colorado does). The schools don’t play each other regularly, so there is no competitive rivalry. Utah fits by geography and research/academics – they did that cold fusion thing a while back. Oh. Never mind.
Colorado really is flying solo these days. Maybe they’ll decide to hate us because of a certain football coach.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
I still think we should add Colorado State
So that all the rivalries in Pac-10 are symmetrical. Besides Colorado is a "West Coast" state. We all know the Rocky Mountain State surrounded by all those "Fly Over States" is basically like how East Berlin used to be in East Germany. :-)
CSU doesn't add much
I agree about the symmetry. If makes perfect sense for travel for basketball. But if the point of expansion is money (and it IS money), then CSU brings nothing. They get 25,000 max for football games and they don’t add any TV share, as the Front Range (Ft Collins/Boulder/Denver/Co Springs/Pueblo) is attained though CU. And the CSU athletic budget is tiny.
CSU is a great vet and ag school, and the CDC has a branch there, and the other attractions Ty points out below. But there isn’t much else of a draw for the Pac.
But a very good Denver Post columnist and author agrees with you…
Plus, we do have schools in Pullman and Corvallis in the conference, so there is precedent.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
Count me in the camp who likes Utah better than CSU
I have no real ties to SLC or Utah, except for a couple of friends who’ve moved out to SLC from Cali over the years. That said, for those of you who have never been to SLC, go. It’s a fun mountain town. It’s not nearly the “Mormon Lockdown” version of SLC a lot of people talk about.
Park City and Deer Valley are a 45 minute drive from the airport – less from downtown. Utah has stronger athletic programs than CSU (really good gymnastics program, which ticks the all-important Pac-10 rule that you must be great in one non-revenue program), as well as recent success in both basketball and football.
Colorado State is…..well, they play football in what amounts to a minor league stadium, Sonny Lubick field, which is smaller than Martin Stadium in Pullman. They’ve never had much success in basketball, and don’t offer a baseball program (yes, I know – neither does Colorado atm). They do offer track, however.
Academically, you can make an argument they deserve consideration. However, it’s their graduate programs that really pull the weight at the school. The unvergraduate programs are marginal at best. Their Vet-Med school is fantastic, however, as people have mentioned.
I’ve been to Fort Collins and it’s kind of a ‘meh’ town to me. New Belgium Brewery’s great and all, but there’s not a whole lot else to do.
Colorado State offers nothing to the league
We’ll have symmetry with Utah and Colorado as the two mountain schools of the conference. Playing every year means that over time a rivalry can develop. No need to shoehorn in a school like CSU to satisfy the “one state, two schools” thing.
Utah
In the last decade, Utah has two undefeated seasons and two BCS bowl wins. In head coach Kyle Whittingham’s five years the Utes are 47–17 overall, 28–12 in the Mountain West.
The Utes hold the longest current bowl game winning streak at nine straight wins, including two BCS wins (Fiesta Bowl win over Pitt, Sugar Bowl win over Alabama.
Overall, the Utes fit the academic/athletic profile of the league.
Additionally, Salt Lake City is the #31 TV market in the country (Denver is # 16), and Utah is one of the fastest growing states in the nation.
this isn't just their record
it’s also expanding the conference footprint into a growing TV market. Utah is superior in every way to Colorado State.
Yes
It is also about adding some “TV market” which has nothing in common with profile of the rest of the Pac-10. Yeah, okay. Whatever.
The trip to Salt Lake City sounds like so much fun.
In what sense
does Salt Lake City have nothing in common with the rest of the Pac-10?
by SuperBruinMan on Jun 14, 2010 2:06 PM PDT up reply actions
And
Bruin fans are always traveling in thousands to those destinations. NOT.
At this point I don’t really care. We will probably add Utah to “even” things out with Colorado but I can’t stay its something to get crazy about. We are going to play a MWC program that no one cares about but will have their entire fanbase in frenzy whenever we visit them just with the team and few dozen parents. Adding them does nothing for UCLA except for few bucks … which we could raise if we did aggressive marketing and fundraising on our end.
Agreed...
We don’t travel as well as many programs. Tennessee comes to mind as a school will go wherever the Vols are playing.
Every university, including where I work (Pepperdine), is working overtime on fundraising with varying results. Most colleges and universities have seen their endowments drop >25% during this economic downturn. Expansion may be a case of going where the money is.
I may work with the Waves, but I'm still a Bruin!
You're certainly entitled to your opinion. But...
if having “something in common” with the rest of the Pac-10 is a requirement, how does Fort Collins meet that criteria? And CSU doesn’t fit the academic or athletic profile of the league either.
Does a trip to Fort Collins sound like “so much fun”?
But New Belgium/Oskar Blues is much closer to Ft Collins
Though if beer is going to be a criteria, I move that the conference fund a crash expansion of Sonoma State’s athletic program to Pac-10 quality for expansion, bringing in Russian River/Moonlight/Lagunitas/Bear Republic/AVBC into the conference. I could settle for San Diego State, and that scene as an alternative…
formerly bruinhoo
Do you say this from experience?
or is it just the idea that everyone in Utah is Mormon and doesn’t drink?
by SuperBruinMan on Jun 14, 2010 2:33 PM PDT up reply actions
Refering to New Belgium (very good craft, but well distributed brewery)
being in Ft Collins. Also a couple of other well regarded microbrewers being based close by.
formerly bruinhoo
Additionally, a lot of Californians...
are moving to Utah. I know four people who have moved there in the last 18 months.
good for you
You can keep pimping Utah all you want. I am sure thousands of Bruins follow you to that holy grail.
by Nestor on Jun 14, 2010 3:47 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I'm not pimping Utah
just saying it’s a superior expansion choice than Colorado State, Don’t take it so personally
Not taking it personally dude
As I said don’t care about Utah and will certainly not laying out the same welcome mat for them as we did for Colorado. So don’t take that personally. If you want to wax poetic about Utah … you can write up that welcome post.
Don't forget 2007, the Utes pasted the Bruins 44-7...
…that was a humiliating loss…as was the crushing loss to BYU in ‘08 (59-0)…the state of Utah schools have put some big numbers up against our Bruins…I’m no fan of Utah or CSU though. I’d rather go with 11 schools and wait for one that really fit academically and athletically. I can’t even think of another Western school that we could add. Maybe we could just dump a Corvallis school…and to heck with symmetry!
Okay...I feel the need to defend Utah and Salt Lake City.
Granted, I’m sure it doesn’t matter in your eyes. We’ve all created a perception of a city or two and no amount of arguing is going to change that. I get it. God knows I’ve been reading Bruins Nation for a great while now and Nestor has never been a fan of Utah.
Point taken. However, I’m sure there are others who, for one reason or another, don’t know much about Salt Lake and Utah and so generally shape their opinion based on stereotypes. And that’s normal. We all do it because, frankly, when you’re unfamiliar with a place, you go with what you’ve heard the most. And Salt Lake’s rep, whether justified or not, is that of an uptight, conservative hole in the middle of a spectacular mountain range.
I disagree.
And this is coming from a non-Mormon Utahn. I’ve never been Mormon. Was raised in an Irish-Catholic household. That’s my background. It might not bring much to this debate, but it shows that, yes, we non-Mormons do exist here.
As for religion here, I can’t deny that it plays a role. We are the home of the LDS Church and that generally will influence a great deal of city and state life here.
With that said, Salt Lake City is not LDS. It’s about only 30% Mormon and of that, a great deal aren’t even active. It may not be a thriving progressive community, but it’s nothing like what you’d see in a great deal of Utah.
What drives a great deal of the population here is the outdoors. Salt Lake hugs the Wasatch Mountains. Mountains are actually in the city’s limits. If you’re into outdoor activity, you can’t beat SLC.
Beyond the outdoors, though, Salt Lake isn’t some ghost town. It’s a growing city that has an active downtown and arts scene. In fact, it’s a city that is developed very similarly to Portland, Oregon. We’ve got light-rail that connects the suburbs with the city center and some pretty fun neighborhoods like SugarHouse, 9th and 9th and, of course, the University.
But for fans, those who’ll come in probably on Friday night or Saturday morning, the most important thing is the gameday environment, right? Well I think Utah’s campus is no different than a great deal of P10 teams.
We tailgate. Our tailgate lot allows alcohol. Our tailgate lot is filled every Saturday (or Thursday).
We’ve got a stadium that automatically would become one of the nicest in the P10.
We’ve got on field success (of course, that was in the meh MWC, right? Except for the Sugar Bowl and Fiesta recently).
And we’re easy to get to because campus is only twenty minutes away (at the most) from one of the busiest airports in the west.
Sure, it’s not perfect. Sure, there is a stigma attached to this city. But all things considered, we’re not awful.
And hell, next time the Bruins travel to Salt Lake, hit me up and I’ll take you out for a night on the town. I’m sure you’d be pleasantly surprised.
Great post, Jazzy
Thanks for the info, and I appreciate you getting in to this. What is the consensus from Ute fans about staying in the MWC vs going to the Pac, if offered?
I think you hit on some notable points. Certainly, Utah (the state) does have the puritan LDS reputation. But as you note, SLC, as a big and growing city, is much less affected by that than much of the smaller cities and rural areas. I have a few non-LDS friends who grew up in Utah, and they became Ute fans by default, almost as backlash against BYU. I actually have a Utes sweatshirt from we all went to the Freedom Bowl vs Arizona back in ’’94 or ’95?
It is also impossible to argue against the Utes’ success in football lately. And as others have noted, there are several other good athletic programs at the school, esp gymnastics.
I still maintain Colorado gets better snow. ;-)
As with everything in this whole process, this will come down to $$, and the question will be whether the conference makes more money adding Utah, along with its TV market and the opportunity for a conference championship game, or will they make more money standing pat and dividing amongst fewer schools.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
From what I've gathered, Ute fans are near-universal in their support of moving.
It’s difficult in the sense that Utah has been linked to these programs for decades. BYU and Utah have shared a conference since 1909. The thought of leaving that all behind, especially with the addition of Boise State, is kind of difficult because the conference appeared to be on the up and up.
With that said, you can’t deny that overall, the P10 is better. Sure, it has its programs that are struggling, but they’ve got more fans and are located in better regions with more potential than the bottom of the Mountain West. That’s the biggest selling point because trips to L.A. and Boulder and Seattle trump trips to Laramie, Fort Collins and Albuquerque by a mile.
Of course, San Diego and Vegas were always fun trips.
But that’s the trade off, I guess.
Yes, that was the 1994 Freedom Bowl. It was the year Utah leaped onto the national stage, as they finished in the top-ten overall. That was a great season where Utah actually beat the P10 champion Oregon Ducks in Eugene and then, like you mentioned, Arizona in the Freedom Bowl.
As for the television market here, I suspect with Utah being in the P10, you’re going to see a great deal more of casual BYU fans become casual Utah fans. It happened in 2004 and 2008 – our local station here did a poll back in ‘08 that said 51% of the state considered themselves Ute fans to only 43% who said they were BYU fans. That number changes depending on the success of each team, however, you can’t deny that a great deal more of Salt Lake’s population will watch the Utes take on SC or UCLA in a conference game on FOX or ABC than will watch BYU play New Mexico on the mtn.
So I do believe money will generate through that. I also believe a championship game will bring in more money. Overall, it might not be a home run, but it’s a move I don’t think the P10 will regret. Especially if, as I suspect, Utah steps in and contends (not suggesting they’ll win, but contend).
I’m excited to see what they can do with BCS affiliation because I think we’ve established our program as the best non-BCS program in the nation (yeah, I said it BSU), but it’s an entirely new ball game when you add BCS to your name.
That is all nice
So far I have see nothing tangible that shows UCLA benefits from adding a non-BCS program like Utah. This is starting to feel like a forced marriage and I find it really repulsive.
Numbers
I hear what you are saying, N. I guess Larry Scott and his crew will have to crunch some numbers and decide whether an invite is in order, (though I suspect one will be coming). The advantage to UCLA would be monetary in that case, but it remains to be seen what other advantage there might be, if any.
It will be interesting to see, if or when the dust settles, if Scott is praised for for trying a bold maneuver, or if he is criticized for failing to secure the home run deal. We might be joined to Utah with a shotgun, to use your analogy, because Scott played his cards too openly, giving opponents time and cause to rally to kill the deal (HT KSBruin for the link – I’ll only steal one from you per week). Whatever,the case, you can’t blame Utah for wanting out of the MWC and into the Pac. It is a great opportunity for the Utes. Time will well whether it is good for the Bruins.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
Nice honest appraisal...
…more than can be said for some of the hometowner posts.
by C.T. in Boston on Jun 15, 2010 2:17 PM PDT up reply actions
Thanks for the post
Very informative.
Do you have a citation for the 30% Mormon population in SLC? 30% sounds a bit low and is misleading even if accurate. Even if it is correct, SLC, with a population of 181,000 is roughly only 19% of the SLC media market (~944,000).
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the SLC metro area’s population is considered Ogden-SLC-Provo. That would roughly cover Weber County, Salt Lake County, and Utah County.
According to this source (most recent I could find, please let me know if you have something more recent), Salt Lake County has 503,476 Mormons (898,387 pop), Weber County has 115,106 (196,533 pop), and Utah County has 324,790 Mormons (368,536 pop). Combined these three counties are rough 65% or 2/3 Mormon. (Note all numbers are from 2000) I know the population figures don’t match up to the media market figures, but I don’t think there is any other easier way to calculate if you don’t work for Nielson. These three counties are the most populous in the state, are adjacent to Salt Lake, and for all intents and purposes are considered part of the SLC metro area.
The reason I bring this up is because the major reason for expansion is to acquire control of media markets for television contract negotiations. Its been said many times that BYU is the big dog in terms of fans and I believe this to be the case. I lived there for over a decade and have lots of family there. Nearly ALL Mormons are BYU fans and not all non Mormons are Utah fans (plenty go elsewhere in Utah for college), especially considering there is a recent tide of transplants to the area. So adding Utah doesn’t even come close to capturing the market.
I agree with Nestor and think we should wait it out at 11 and see what happens in the near future with the Big 12-2.
by truebluebruin on Jun 15, 2010 8:57 PM PDT up reply actions
Might not be entirely 30%...
Maybe somewhere between 30-40%. I do know Salt Lake County is only 50% LDS and so it goes to reason Salt Lake would be much smaller because of its demographics are staunchly opposite of a good portion of the county (the city is pretty liberal, county is fairly moderate).
You’re right in stating Salt Lake doesn’t make up much of Utah’s population. That’s probably why it’s more liberal than the state as a whole. A great deal of LDS families have relocated outside the city because it’s cheaper to own bigger homes. That again explains how the numbers are dramatically different in the city as opposed to a good deal of its suburbs.
The Salt Lake metro does not include Ogden and Provo. It includes all of Salt Lake County, Summit County (home of Park City) and Tooele County (which is not of significance). And be careful, I did a search for the Salt Lake Metro in Google and came up with a local gay magazine (haha).
Ogden has its own metro, which is known as the Ogden-Clearfield MSA. Provo’s is defined as all of Utah County (that’s where BYU is located) and Juab (which, like Tooele, is insignificant).
But it would be right to suggest the Wasatch Front, home to Ogden, Salt Lake and Provo, make up most of the state’s population. In fact, I believe roughly 80% of the state’s population lives along the Wasatch Front. It is the population center of the state.
Your worries about BYU dominating the market are justified to an extent. However, a recent poll in 2008 by a local television station stated that 51% of Utahns identified themselves as Ute fans, while only 43% said they were BYU fans.
That’s important because it suggests a great deal of BYU’s fan base is extremely soft in their support. With Utah playing in the Pac-Twelve, I’d expect a great deal of those fans who are only casual Cougar fans to probably begin watching and cheering for the Utes.
Do I have any evidence to suggest this? Of course not. But that poll shows how dramatic Utah’s support has grown among Utahns. BYU did for a good while dominate the state, but that was decades ago and at the height of their success (which coincided with the worst-stretch of football in Utah history).
So let’s say 51% of Utah considers themselves Ute fans. That’s about 1,400,000 in potential fans (based on the state’s population in 2009, which was 2,784,572). Beyond that, this suggests those numbers would stay stagnant at 51% of the state’s population for the remainder of eternity. I disagree. I disagree because, over time, BYU will become less and less relevant with this market now being dominated by the Pac-Ten.
Realistically, if you’re a BYU fan, but not a die hard, what would you watch?
Cougars take on New Mexico on the mtn
Or Utah take on Oregon/Washington/USC/UCLA/Arizona State?
The potential to grow is real and as you mentioned, with the growing population (driven a great deal by those who are non-LDS and from outside Utah), there is an untapped fan base here.
Is it a slam dunk? No. But Salt Lake becoming a Pac-Ten city, which it isn’t currently, would mean good things because of A) how fast it’s growing and B) what’s already here. And even though you believe BYU has the market cornered, over time, Utah will carve into that.
You know how I know? They already have. A decade ago (2000), I doubt you’d find 51% of the state calling themselves Ute fans.
Great Post gbruin!
Thanks for all of the great information. CU seems like a great university and the campus looks beautiful. The academics seem to be good too. It will be great to play against them in the Pac-?.
Oskar Blues is less than 20 minutes from CU
Don’t know if they sell well in CA but it is AWESOME beer. Dale’s Pale Ale, Gordon’s Scotch Ale, and several others. They only come in cans. Any of the decent liquor stores in CA should have it.
by BruinInDenver on Jun 14, 2010 8:55 AM PDT up reply actions
Their distribution is growing in nor cal, at least
I have had Dale’s and Gordon’s, both very good beers.
formerly bruinhoo
As you can tell by my user name
I could not be more excited by this move. Growing up in socal as a die hard Bruins fan, I unfortunately did not have the academic showing in high school to attend UCLA. It turned out to be a blessig though, as I chose CU as my fallback option and it turned into the 4 most amazing years of my life. There is so much in common with CU and Boulder as the other PAC 10 cities it’s a shock that it took this long for an alliance to be made. I highly recommend everyone makes a road trip out to CU for a game weekend, it really is an amazing game day setting.
I can speak for all of Buffs Nation when I say that we are nothing short of ecstatic to be joining the PAC. There is nothing but respect for the universities that are already in and we look forward to adding what I think will be a unique and exciting experience to the conference.
Fairly Familiar W/CU/Boulder
I lived in the Denver area (Green Mountain/Lakewood) in the mid- to late-80’s and went to an Iowa vs. CU game in ‘92 when the Hawkeyes visited Folsom Field and I was a student at Iowa. Boulder is a fun place to go to a game and party as well. Also, a couple of my nephews went to CU. All in all, I think it’s a pretty good addition to the Pac 10.
Los Angeles Rams and the UCLA Bruins!!!!!
by Minnesota Bruinfan on Jun 14, 2010 10:37 AM PDT reply actions
Altitude
Does anybody know how high Boulder is?
Last fall, I was in Colorado Springs and decided to go for a short run after arriving and checking into the hotel. I got a mild case of altitude sickness immediately.
CU athletes train at the Boulder altitude and I was wondering if it is so high they get an advantage when we play there.
About 5,400 feet
It’s a little higher than Denver.
Medically speaking, one shouldn’t get true altitude sickness until 7,500 to 8,000 feet (part of the reason airline cabins are pressurized to an equivalent of 6,900 feet altitude). However, as you discovered, one can get very short of breath due to the thinner air very very quickly. The home teams here, and in Utah, definitely get an advantage from training and playing at altitude.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
I was 61 when I started feeling like Western Civilization was about to end last fall in Colorado Springs
The effects of altitude hit me now more than when I was younger. And our athletes will be able to hang in there much better then I did. But I agree with you it seems they may have a slight advantage with the altitude differential.
I believe it is over 6000 feet
Based on my tennis playing days in Boulder (club tennis) as a visiting business guy, the ball flies much further than in Denver. I thought it was 6200 or some such but much higher than Denver.
Bill
Mensgym
There are parts that are of course...
But Boulder proper, including CU is between 5400-5600. Air Force and Colorado Springs are 6000 plus. Golf is fun here, the ball travels 10% further at least.
I hope CU revisits their baseball program now. Basketball is picking up.
by BruinInDenver on Jun 14, 2010 12:24 PM PDT up reply actions
Our own MJD visits Boulder...
At least twice a year and golfs with Eric Bieniemy. I’d guarantee they’ll be there when the Bruins trek to Boulder. I’ve heard many rumors of EB coming back to Boulder in some capacity if Hawkins doesn’t come through this year or next. Our Buffs brethren may know more.
Excellent Post!!
Thank you and well done, gbruin.
I think the Buffs are a great fit into the Pac. I’ve been out here in KS for about 10 years, and I’ve never seen them as a good fit for the Big 12 now Big Whatever.
Welcome, Colorado.
Love My Bruins
Does CU bring Ralphie with them on their road games?
Will we see the running of the buffalo at the Rose Bowl?
Occasionally
We took her to Athens for the Georgia game in 2006 and to Tempe when we played at ASU in 2007. She will not make every trip, but I assume she will be making the rounds in our first couple of years with the conference.
Reports Are that Texas isn't Coming
I think Texas is in a snit we wouldn’t take Baylor. So it says it’s not coming into the Pac-Whatever.
Whatever.
We could use one more quality school. Or we could just pretend to be the Pac-10 like the Big-10 pretended it wsa just 10 for a couple of years. I suspect Texcas will eventually come along, but it is pouting right now because its bluff wasn’t successful.
Of course, we could always ask USC to leave and remain 10.
Bleeding powderkeg blue and gold for 55 years. Go Bruins!
I doubt this is in any way about Baylor
This is about the new Big 12-2 handing whatever remaining power didn’t belong to Texas, to Texas. I thought the Pac 16 was a novel concept at first, but the shine for me wore off pretty quickly seeing how Texas-centric virtually everything would have become. At the moment, I’m relieved that they’re staying where they are.
yep
Feel the same. Once Texas became the hot broad on the block all that happened was their already steep prices (share of conference revenue) went up — for the B12 or whoever ended up being their new suitor. Funny seeing how the OK schools — so useless with out TX recruits — are all on UT’s short leash.
Just wait until the Big “12” (9.9? 10.1?) tries finding a price for what’s left of itself to the Networks. Lots and LOTS of question marks.
This ain’t over.
GO BRUIN BLUE
Really demonstrates how weak the rest of the Big XII is
They’re basically handing the keys to the store over to Texas. Makes me wonder how that league won’t get raided again. This helps the SEC to some extent… they now have plenty of time to work on Oklahoma… despite what A&M people say, the Sooners are who the SEC really wanted here. If the Big 10 ever lands ND, I’d expect Missouri to try and make that jump again. A&M will always have eyes for the SEC now that they almost made a deal .
What’s really crazy is that Fox Sports Net, our crummy broadcast partner, is basically stepping to the plate to help pay to keep the Big XII together. One can only hope this ends any chance they have of landing the Pac-10 again.
The Number's 12.
While 16 would be the sweetest and 14 would definitely rock — 12 is and always has been the number. The PAC-X has a Conference Championship Game and a TV deal to sell — and 12’s the minimum you need do it.
That said, reaching that far East (the Red River) — both geographically and politically — was always a big stretch. Texas is TEXAS. Which means a LOT — though most of it will remain unsaid. Whether or not today’s News about UT is truly the end, the “superconference” gambit was and is a worthy endeavor. Larry Scott wisely poured tons more concrete than we needed because he’s every bit the big thinking, media mind we needed to make up for the Tom Hansen years.
OregonLive.com has a great piece on a gent everyone tuned into this remarkable story should know a little about.
But IT AIN’T OVER.
GO BRUIN BLUE
expansion seemed inevitable
So I welcome CU to the fold. They always seemed to make the most sense in terms of a conference addition. But I prefer to keep things the way they are particularly for hoops sake. A real round robin schedule (conf tourney or not) results in the truest champion. I know its about money, but it should also be about more than football as well.
by DoubleTroubleBruin on Jun 14, 2010 5:23 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
Thank you for that overview! My son will be looking at CU...
…for college starting in 2012 (as a back-up to UCLA and Cal of course), and we might even make it out there this summer for a tour. Beautiful campus, great college town. I had a roommate in SF after grad school and she went to CU Boulder…she was p-a-r-t-y girl…about all she could tell me about the school were the “Fuff the Bucks” parties or some such.
Fantastic post, gbruin
Thank you for this. It’s really a great introduction to CU and surroundings.
And, if you need a sponsor for early entry into geezerhood, I’m there for you. Or, if you’re looking for a thesis topic in geezer studies, I might suggest: Becoming a Geezer, or How to Back Losing Causes.
Ref.: Why the DH corrupts baseball; why world series games should be played in the day time; why the Pac-10 should stay as it is; ….
gbruin, you forgot CU's ultimate historical site
the Alferd G. Packer Memorial Grill. Have a friend for lunch!
Great campus to visit
My daughter graduated from CU. She had a great college experience. She was raised a hardcore Bruin fan and still loves the Bruins. When she was in college, my brother and I went to visit her and watch OU play Colorado. It was an awesome football experience! The stadium is on campus and it is a gorgeous setting for a football game. She is very excited to see her Buffs join the Pac. She can’t wait to see her Buffs play sc at the coliseum. CU will be a nice addition to the PAC-?.
For Colorado fans
You are more than welcome to come in and partake in BN but you will have to leave your feelings for our head coach somewhere else. You just don’t get to come here and take shots at our head coach and call him names. We wouldn’t do that to your guys at your blog. So expect the same courtesy on BN. Welcome to the conference.
....
i hope you are teasing…besides you do know who colorado’s coach is right?
Read our rules
Linked on the left side of the blog:
[I]f you insult UCLA or anyone/anything associated with UCLA you could be subjected to immediate banning. There are lots of message boards to engage in cheap trash/smack talk.
If you cannot abide by that then you will not be around. We already have great relationship with Ralphie Report. So we are looking forward to engaging with them. However, if you cannot engage with us without attacking Coach Rick Neuheisel, then you should stay away and stick to message boards. Thanks.
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