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Utah faces a college football blueblood in the Alamo Bowl, as Texas tries to restore its aura

Austin, Texas • On a cloudy weekend morning in late December, the University of Texas campus is quiet, except for the noise of heavy construction machinery in the south end zone of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

In the southeast corner of the 100,119-seat facility's upper deck, overlooking the $175 million enhancement project, numbers celebrate Texas' Big 12 Conference football championships. The most recent title: 2009.

That partly explains why the construction work is so urgent. The Longhorns’ past success means they have some catching up to do.

In the Utah football program’s Pac-12 era, the Utes have faced Georgia Tech, Colorado State, BYU, Indiana, West Virginia and Northwestern in bowl games.