Kyle Whittingham Doesn't Consider Utah-USC A Rivalry

Utah's head coach doesn't consider their foes down South to be a rival despite the recent history

When it comes to USC and Utah, the two programs are both viewed as dominant forces in the Pac-12, and have the makings of a rivalrous relationship. 

However, in a recent interview with 247Sports, head coach Kyle Whittingham revealed that even with all of the great matchups that they have had recently he doesn't consider it to be a rivalry. He didn't exactly shoot down the game, noting that both teams are consistently in the mix, but it appears he didn't want to make it more than it is. 

“It’s been great,” Whittingham said. “I don’t want to call it a rivalry, because I don’t think that’s the situation, but it’s been a great back-and-forth series. Like you said, implications typically every year. Most every year: conference implications, championship implications. Of course, we played them in the championship game last year. So it’s turned out to be a very competitive and very intense football game, and I’m sure this year will be no different.”

Utah has won the last three and four out of the last six meetings, but it is USC who holds the advantage in the series winning 12 of the 21 matchups. The oddsmakers are also expecting USC to end Utah's win streak, which included the Pac-12 title game this past season. The Trojans are favored by 6.5, and ESPN's matchup predictor gives USC a 69.4% of winning.