Holy War Closure

I don’t know about you, but I’m a little tired of hearing about the House Settlement.

There’s been no shortage of fallout since the landmark ruling that officially kicked off the revenue-sharing era of college sports. Columns filled with pessimism about whether NIL spending can actually be capped. Big 12 ADs responding with defiant optimism. Legal challenges to the settlement already underway.

It’s all important. But it’s also gotten a little old.

So, let’s talk about something more fun: The Holy War.

With the Big 12 badly in need of a flagship rivalry after Texas and Oklahoma bolted for the SEC, Utah and BYU have delivered.

There’s a lot of animosity baked into this one, including cultural tension that I’m not fully qualified to dissect.

A new layer was added within the last few years: Utah’s uneasy relationship with the Big 12 itself.

Many Utah fans have looked down on the league ever since the Big 12 began pursuing the Pac-12 four corners. “Truck Stop Conference” became the go-to insult. You can understand why the Utes didn’t want to leave the Pac-12, especially to join a rival that many of them looked down upon.

Utah AD Mark Harlan echoed some of that sentiment on Twitter before ultimately being forced to accept the Big 12 invite.

So last fall, when the first Holy War with both schools as Big 12 members kicked off, you just knew it would be good.

And it was.

BYU’s game-winning drive hinged on a do-or-die 4th-and-10 deep in their own territory that was kept alive by a holding call that had Utes fans apoplectic. 

At first glance, it looked iffy. But as replays rolled in from every angle, the consensus shifted: it looked like the right call.

Harlan didn’t wait for the alternate angles. He held nothing back in a shocking impromptu postgame press conference, taking aim at the refs, Brett Yormark, and the league itself.

Was the rant justified?

Thanks to excellent reporting from longtime Lubbock Avalanche-Journal writer Don Williams, we now know the Big 12’s official stance. The league reviewed six calls that Utah challenged after the game, and stood by five of them, including the controversial hold.

Here’s what Big 12 Coordinator of Officials Greg Burks said:

"QB looks to #5 immediately after the snap, as receiver moves to go around the defender, the defender grabs the receiver and prevents him from running his route. Correct call."

You could take the cynical view that Burks would always defend his officials, but here’s some useful context. He also acknowledged five incorrect calls made by Big 12 refs in the Texas Tech–Colorado game that same day.

You can read the full article here, and while you’re at it, follow Don Williams. He’s one of the best.

Sure, it would’ve been nice to have this closure back in November, but I get why we don’t always get public officiating reviews. We live in a world where college basketball official John Higgins received death threats from Kentucky fans. No need to stoke that fire every week.

And truthfully, dragging this debate out has only made the rivalry better. College football needs this kind of drama. These are the stories that turn good rivalries into great ones.

I’m not writing this to dunk on Harlan or Utah fans. If I were a Ute, I’d probably have reacted the exact same way to the call and the rant. 

What I love is that this rivalry means something. The Big 12 needs matchups like this that stir emotion, ignite debate, and bring in casual fans.

Conference realignment already took so many of our best rivalries: Texas-Oklahoma Kansas–Missouri, Texas–Texas A&M, Oklahoma–Nebraska, and Colorado–Nebraska.

The Holy War is stepping up to fill that void. 

Here’s hoping for more fireworks in 2025 and beyond.

What You Need to Know

• The Big 12 men’s and women’s basketball schedules are here…kind of. The league released the opponents that each team will play at home and away. With an 18-game conference schedule, teams will only play three different opponents twice during the regular season. That has led to some frustration…

• Kansas fans are mad about this. K-State fans aren’t happy with this. Ultimately, I think the league takes too much flak for scheduling issues like this. It’s impossible to make everybody happy with a league this big. 

• ESPN ranked every Power Four football team based on their expected performance over the next two seasons. One Big 12 team was head-and-shoulders above the rest. 

• If you do want more information on the House Settlement fallout and how it will affect the Big 12, check out my latest YouTube show. 

• Nobody is paying their student-athletes more than Texas Tech. CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello saysTech’s $55 million in NIL and revenue sharing is likely tops in the country.

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