BYU-"School Up North" Rivalry

PROVO -- Saturday's game will mark the 80th meeting between BYU and the "school up north."

Dating back to the 1922 season, the Utes own a 47-28-4 overall record.

From 1972 through 1992, the Cougars posted a 19-2 record against their in-state rivals. Since then, the Utes have registered a 7-4 mark over the past 11 meetings, including back-to-back victories in 2002 and 2003.

Over the past eight years, the two teams have each won four games and no team has won by more than seven points over the past seven seasons.

With a record of 5-5 on the season, the Cougars will need a victory on Saturday to become bowl eligible for the first time since the 2001 season.

Back when BYU was known as the BY Academy, starting out with only 29 students with an average fifth-grade reading level, the two teams met a total of six times throughout the 1896, 1897 and 1898 seasons, posting an identical 3-3 record. The BY Academy teams of 1896, 1897 and 1898 were likely made up of both college and high-school age players.

In the first meeting between the two schools, BYA lists a 12-0 victory, while the "school up north" says the game wasn't a shutout at all. The "school up north" claims only a 12-4 loss to the Academy.

Following an accidental death in a football game in state of Utah, as well as other "unknown" reasons, the Church-owned school cancelled football beginning in 1900. In 1903, the Academy became Brigham Young University and football was later reinstated as a sport in 1922 -- the first official season as a university-sponsored team.

BYU's longest standing rivalry actually began in 1895 when BY Academy faced off against the "school up north" in baseball. The game ended in a 0-0 tie with a bench clearing brawl.