Does that rising level of interest apply in the mainstream media, too?
The four consecutive meetings now with BYU in the national championship are thought by many to be a streak that will continue for many years to come. The Bears edged BYU by three in 2006 and won the next two convincingly before falling three points short this year. Do you also envision this rivalry continuing at the championship level in the foreseeable future? I have no idea if it will continue. Our focus needs to be on getting to the title match, not who we’re playing in the match. With this said, I personally love coaching against BYU and I always have, dating back to the early ’80s, partially because there’s always so much on the line. The matches have largely been winner-take-all affairs. Even when we played them in 2001, when they had that great Kimball Kjar team, some billed it as an unofficial championship because BYU was unavailable for the national championship. It was as good of a victory for a “friendly” as is possible. But look, BYU is our adversary, and as a foe to our un
