SALT LAKE CITY — Northwest Nazarene, Coppin State, UC Riverside, Prairie View A&M. All of them produce a collective yawn in terms of competitive college basketball. Yet, there they were, staples of Utah’s home basketball schedule so far.
The road schedule, which really consisted of only two such games this fall, has not been any better. No wonder the Utes played before thousands of empty seats at the Huntsman Center.
Without question, Utah’s nonconference schedule this season has needed sizzle. The easy, most obvious way to improve it would have been to play BYU, and maybe mix in Weber State and Utah State.