The are the
Athletics teams of the
University Of Utah . They are named after the
Ute Tribe of
Native Americans . The men's basketball team is known as the "Runnin' Utes", while the women's basketball team is known as the "Lady Utes".
The University of Utah college football program began playing in 1892, the Utes play at
Rice-Eccles Stadium , with their first game being played there in 1927. The Utes have a record of 9-3 in bowl games and have won 23 conference championships, including 6 in a row from 1928 to 1933 when they were part of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
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Utah football experienced a resurgence in the early 1990s under head coach Ron McBride. After years of subpar play, McBride led the Utes to their first bowl game in 28 years when they played Washington State in the 1992 Copper Bowl. The Utes lost to the Cougars 31-28. Utah reached its peak under McBride when it finished the 1994 season ranked 10th in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and recorded a dramatic 16-13 victory over Arizona in the Freedom Bowl.
Since that time, bowl games have become more routine for the Utes. The team now has a six year bowl game win streak and are the only
Mountain West Conference (MWC) team to play in a
BCS bowl.
In recent years, the Utes have been fairly consistent, going 54-29 (.650) since the beginning of the 2000 season. Along the way, Utah engineered an 18-game winning streak and went to bowl games all three seasons, winning all three. They also produced the best season in school history in
2004 , when the Utes went 12-0 and became the first school from a non-
Bowl Championship Series conference to play in a BCS bowl game. The Utes played the
University Of Pittsburgh Panthers in the
2005 Fiesta Bowl , winning 35-7. The Utes finished the season ranked #4 in the AP poll. Later that year
Alex Smith , who was Utah's quartback for the 2003 and 2004 seasons, was drafted #1 by the
San Francisco 49ers in the
2005 NFL Draft . He became the first player in the state of Utah to ever be drafted first. This culminated in the
University Of Utah becoming the first school in history to produce two #1 professional draft picks in the same year when
Andrew Bogut became the #1 pick in the
2005 NBA Draft . Utah is currently coached by
Kyle Whittingham , who took over for
Urban Meyer after Meyer left Utah for Florida after two seasons with the Utes. Since then the Utes are 15-11 overall and 9-7 in conference play and have won two bowl games (the Emerald Nuts Bowl and the Armed Forces Bowl).
Notable players to have played for the University of Utah are NFL Hall of Fame member
Larry Wilson , Super Bowl Head Coach Winner
George Seifert ,
Manny Fernandez ,
Scott Mitchell ,
Kevin Dyson ,
Luther Ellis ,
Jamal Anderson ,
Mike Anderson ,
Steve Smith of the
Carolina Panthers ,
Jordan Gross also of the
Carolina Panthers ,
Alex Smith and
Eric Weddle .
See Also: Utah Utes men's basketball
The Runnin' Utes basketball team has always been the pride and joy of University of Utah athletics. The 9th winningest college basketball program of all time.
1 The Utes have made 28 NCAA Tournament appearances, which ranks 7th all-time, while the Utes 10 outright conference championships (28 championships overall) is the 5th best in NCAA history. The Utes are coached by first-year coach and former
Michigan State assistant
Jim Boylen , who replaced
Ray Giacoletti after a two-year run regarded as one of the worst stretches in the program's history. But even Giacoletti tasted success, as in his first season at Utah, he, along with future No. 1 NBA Draft pick
Andrew Bogut led the team to the NCAA Sweet 16 with an upset win over the
Oklahoma Sooners .
Individual success has also been a big part of Utah athletics, as many successful players and coaches have been apart of the rich Utah tradition. In 2005
Andrew Bogut was selected #1 in the
2005 NBA Draft by the
Milwaukee Bucks , making the University of Utah the only school in NCAA history to produce the #1 draft pick in both the NBA and NFL in the same year (
Alex Smith ). Other notable players that have gone on to play in the NBA are
Andre Miller ,
Keith Van Horn ,
Michael Doleac (who recently won the NBA championship with the Miami Heat),
Danny Vranes and
Tom Chambers . The Utes have also been coached by several top NCAA coaches, including
Vadal Peterson -- the winningest coach in Utah basketball history, hall of fame coach
Jack Gardner ,
Bill Foster and
Rick Majerus .
The Utes have played in four
Final Four s, winning the 1944
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship . Utah also added an NIT title in 1947. Jerry Chambers was named MVP of the 1966 Final Four in which Utah lost to eventual champion Texas Western (UTEP) and the legendary coach
Don Haskins . They also played for the 1998 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, losing to the
Kentucky Wildcats .
The program's most successful season came in the 2005-2006 campaign. The Lady Utes, who finished in 2nd place in the Mountain West Conference, won the conference tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time in school history. After getting by
Middle Tennessee in the first round of the 2006 Women's NCAA Tournament, the Lady Utes surprised the 4th seeded
Arizona State Sun Devils to advance to the Sweet 16 for only the second time in school history. There the Lady Utes faced 8th seeded
Boston College and gutted out a 3 point win, advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Making the regional finals, the Lady Utes became the first team in Mountain West Conference history to ever do so. In doing so, the Lady Utes would go on to play 2nd seeded, and eventual national champion,
Maryland . The game went into OT, but Maryland prevailed and the Utes amazing run came to an end.
In the
2006 WNBA Draft Lady Ute guard Shona Thorburn was selected by Minnesota Lynx with the 7th pick and Kim Smith, a forward for the Lady Utes, was selected 13th overall by the Sacramento Monarchs.
