What to do about the Runnin' Utes?

The Utah Runnin' Utes (7-6) took 8th place (out of 8 teams) in the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii last week, losing to Butler 74-62, Hawaii 68-55, and San Diego 67-64. Losing to Butler (9-4) is understandable, the Bulldogs are a really good team and have most of their players back from their run to the National Championship Game last March. Losing to Hawaii (9-3) on their home court isn't a terrible loss, but it's not exactly a great loss either as in not understandable the way the Butler loss was.

And then there was the Christmas Day loss to San Diego (3-10). That loss on a neutral court (or any court really) in completely unacceptable. We are Utah and we have too good of a program and tradition to accept losing games like that. San Diego is a really bad team. The win against Utah was their first against a Division I school all season. The Toreros have lost to bad teams along the way to getting to 3-10, including the likes of Cal State Fullerton (4-8) and Fresno State (4-6), which I saw for myself as being a really bad team. I love Utah basketball and will continue to support the team no matter what, but I am growing weary of watching the team I love lose games they should win.

The San Diego loss is the kind of loss that can lead to coaches getting fired. Losing to Oral Roberts (5-8) at home this season was bad enough. However, the San Diego loss is definitely worse, ranking among the worst in the Jim Boylen era at Utah, up there with the loss to Division II Southwest Baptist in 2008 and the blowout loss at home to BYU to end the regular season in 2010.

Now I do have a good memory and I remember that Utah also lost to Idaho State in 2008 but still managed to beat BYU, share the 2009 Mountain West Conference Regular Season Championship and subsequently won the Mountain West Tournament on the way to earning a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament. All of those things were great and earned Coach Boylen a contract extension. And if he is kept around and able to do that again, I would be happy. Those memories are why I was hoping something similar would happen this year following the Oral Roberts loss.

However, the San Diego loss is much worse than the Oral Roberts loss. Coach Boylen is in his 4th season and simply cannot be having losses like this one anymore if he is trying to build the program to a national level. Every year dating back to the Ray Giacoletti era, there have been at least 1 or 2 of these losses per season to the likes of Southern Utah, Albany, Santa Clara, the aforementioned Southwest Baptist and Idaho State, Idaho, Seattle and the pair of losses this year to Oral Roberts and San Diego.

Look, I'm a patient guy, a tolerant guy. Every once in a while, something fluky can happen and a loss like this can happen and be just a blip on the radar for a program that is still really good. Syracuse lost to Le Moyne in an exhibition game last season, but still made the Sweet 16. This year they are 13-0, ranked 5th in the country, and looking strong heading into Big East play. The point is, losses like that can happen and they don't have to ruin a season. But if they are happening on an annual basis, as they are at Utah, it can bring down a program and keep it short of achieving greatness. A great program is consistent throughout the season, which puts it in to position to get a favorable seed and make a deep run into the NCAA Tournament. I'm not saying Utah has to be Syracuse, but they should be a lot further along than where they are now.

Losses like the one to San Diego can wear on a team's confidence as well. I remember in the 2006-07 season, Giacoletti's last at Utah, the Runnin' Utes lost to Southern Utah and Albany in non-conference play, but also beat Washington State (3-seed in the Tournament) and Virginia (4 seed in the Tournament) by double-digit margins. They also beat an Air Force team that was ranked 11th in the country at the time and took a UNLV team that advanced to the Sweet 16 to double overtime on its home floor. However, they had 11 wins on the year and that just wasn't good enough. Good wins can offset bad losses, but they won't substitute for a total lack of consistency.

This year, the Utes have exactly zero of what I would call good wins in the eyes of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. So there is nothing to offset the bad losses. And the Diamond Head Classic exhibits a trend toward a disturbing lack of consistency. The season is not totally lost at this point, but the Runnin' Utes cannot let losses lead to more losses as they clearly did in Hawaii. I believe they have more talent than both Hawaii and San Diego, but lost both games. If that trend continues, I can pretty much guarantee you that Coach Boylen won't be back next year.

The season resumes for the Runnin' Utes this Friday at 5 p.m. MT at Portland (11-3). The game is not being televised, but can be watched live online at portlandpilots.com. Here's a link to the video page. Once there you will have to click on the "Watch" button on the event "Portland Men's Basketball vs. Utah." The game can also be heard on AM 700 in the Salt Lake City area and on kall700sports.com. The Pilots have a nice record that includes no bad losses, but no eye-popping wins either. Even though I would bet Utah is more talented than Portland, I still think the Pilots will win this game because they will be on their home floor and because they have been the more consistent team this season. The Runnin' Utes open conference play on Wednesday, January 5th at Air Force (7-3). Utah should win both games based on talent, but I think they will only win one. If they are looking to get headed back in the right direction, however, they would do well to win both heading into a home match-up with #7 San Diego State (14-0) on Saturday, January 8th.