The True Deseret Duel

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Let’s have a tournament involving all NCAA Division I schools in Utah
Christian Ledek | Sports writer | @sea_led

Sports Column
The Deseret First Duel is an annual competition between the University of Utah and Brigham Young University, determining which school is the best at their respective collegiate athletics.
Each calendar year, Utah and BYU compete against one another in various sports. The winning school from each event gets three points, except for men’s basketball, which is worth five points. These sports include the aforementioned men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, women’s swimming/diving and men’s swimming/diving. I understand that the U of U and BYU rivalry is the biggest in our state and the Deseret First Duel adds fuel to the holy war fire.
However, in this writer’s opinion, it should incorporate all the NCAA Division I schools in Utah to be a true Deseret Duel. After all, our state name was nearly Deseret instead of Utah.
How can this be possible when not every school has the same athletic programs? Great question–I’m glad you thought of it. There are some sports in Utah that every NCAA Division I school competes in. BYU, Utah, Utah State, Utah Valley, Weber State, and Southern Utah all have programs for men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s track and field, women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, softball and men’s golf.
I propose the grandest of all Deseret Duels. At the beginning of each sport’s respective season, there should be an in-state tournament amongst these D1 schools and sports programs. The school that wins the tournament for each of the sports will get a certain amount of points towards the duel. The school with the most points after all these tournaments will be crowned with the Beehive Trophy, Beehive Cup, Beehive Scepter, Beehive Chalice, or whatever else you want to call it, and become the true Deseret Duel champion.
If this is something that cannot be accomplished in every sport, it should at least be attempted in women’s soccer. Weber State, BYU, UVU, Southern Utah, Utah and Utah State all have women’s soccer teams. It would be great to see the competition between these schools as well as rivalries that could develop over time. Something needs to be done to get the in-state schools competing against each other on a regular basis.
No matter what type of competition the schools chose, it would be a great thing for all schools involved as well as for all the fans and students from each school. It will promote in-state competition as well as promoting a lot of hype for the upcoming seasons. Powers that be need to take this idea by the horns and make it happen immediately. If this does ever happen, remember where you heard it first: UVU!