The University of Utah men’s basketball schedule is coming into full focus after the Pac-12 released its reorganized weekly matchups for its 20-game league slate on Thursday morning.
The Utes will begin league play Dec. 3 vs. Washington, then travel to Arizona State on Dec. 22. Utah was already scheduled to play the Huskies and Sun Devils in December before the COVID-19 pandemic altered everything. The original Washington game date was transferred to the new schedule, while Arizona State was moved from Dec. 6.
The rest of Utah’s weekly Pac-12 matchups are below. Game dates will be released at a later date once television designations are finalized.
• Week of Dec. 30-Jan. 3: at UCLA/USC
• Week of Jan. 6-10: vs. Oregon/Oregon State
• Week of Jan. 13-17: vs. Cal/Stanford
• Week of Jan. 20-24: at Washington/Washington State
• Week of Jan. 27-31: at Colorado
• Week of Feb. 3-7: vs. Arizona/Arizona State
• Week of Feb. 10-14: at Cal/Stanford
• Week of Feb. 17-21: at Oregon/Oregon State
• Week of Feb. 24-28: vs. UCLA/USC
• Week of March 6-7: vs. Colorado.
The Pac-12 Tournament, which was cancelled on the morning of the quarterfinals earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic unfolding, is scheduled March 10-13 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
With 20 league games in place, Utah’s full 27-game schedule is near completion. The Utes will play three games to open the season at the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic to open the season, plus nonconference matchups against BYU, Utah Valley and Idaho State, with one more scheduling hole to fill.
Utah-Utah Valley set for Dec. 15, guarantee money cut in half
The Utes and Wolverines are set to play at the Huntsman Center on Dec. 15, per the game contract, obtained Wednesday by The Salt Lake Tribune.
Utah will pay Utah Valley $40,000 for the 40-mile trip from Orem to Salt Lake City. The originally-agreed upon monetary figure in the original contract drafted to on Dec. 10, 2019 was $80,000.
The major sticking point in the new contract focuses on COVID-19 testing. Utes athletic director Mark Harlan has been adamant that his basketball teams will not play an opponent that cannot match Pac-12 testing protocols, which are daily.
Under subsection No. 12 of the contract, titled ‘COVID-19 testing,’ it reads: “The parties acknowledge that the Pac-12 has issued, or will be issuing, team COVID-19 testing requirements that must be followed by any non-conference teams that compete with a Pac-12 institution. In the event that an effective vaccine has not become available for use (and has been used by both teams) by the time of the game, the parties agree to comply with the Pac-12′s testing requirements in connection with the game.”
