Utah Joins Pac 10; College Football Conference Shuffle Hushes

It has been a hectic couple of weeks for college football betting handicappers. On Monday, it looked like the Big 12 might not exist as the Texas Longhorns and their cavalcade were expected to be moving to the Pac 10, leaving Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor and Iowa State in limbo. And that was on the heels of Boise State shifting to the Mountain West, Nebraska moving to the Big Ten and Colorado leaving for the Pac 10.

Now that the week is over, the Big 12 is still intact and it seems like the dust has settled after one last move.

The latest – and likely final switch, for now – is the Utah Utes joining the Pac 10 starting in the 2011 season. It’s another solid addition by the Pac 10 and one that should definitely make their conference stronger.

The Utes have been a BCS-buster a couple of times this decade and are the only team from a non-BCS conference to make it to the BCS twice. For the school, the invitation is a big win as betting fans know they will get far more credibility playing in the Pac 10 than they did beating on weak teams in the Mountain West.

Speaking of the Mountain West, losing Utah is a huge blow just as it looked like BYU and Utah were really starting to generate some national attention as a rivalry and they were expecting to add Boise State to the mix. Instead of having three schools with BCS potential, they are back to the two and overall have made a lateral move this offseason.

The Utes no longer have to worry about being an at-large team as the Pac10 has an automatic BCS berth. At the same time. the sportsbook odds makers know that Utah will have a much tougher time qualifying for the BCS now that their schedule will stiffen significantly.

For now, it looks like the conference movement has quieted down and if there is more, it will likely surround a Notre Dame move some time next year.