SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah and BYU will continue their football rivalry once they leave the Mountain West.
The schools said Thursday they've agreed to a home-and-home series beginning in 2011, with Utah canceling a planned three-game series with Boise State to make room for the schedule change.
Utah's pending move to join the Pac-10 comes at a cost to Weber State. Utah announced Thursday it will not renew its home-and home men's basketball series with WSU after 2011.
"It's disappointing from our standpoint, obviously. It has always been great to have a program like that to come to our place every other year," Wildcats coach Randy Rahe said. "It was great for our fans and generated a lot of excitement within our community."
Utah will honor the existing contract to play WSU in Salt Lake City on Nov. 20 this season and at the Dee Events Center in 2011, Rahe said.
Utah's release said the Utes would look forward to hosting the Wildcats in future seasons, something Rahe would like to see as well every year for the long term.
"We want to continue to play them and if the only way to continue to play them is to head to Salt Lake City every year, we'd like to do it," Rahe said.
In-state rivals BYU and Utah State have given no indication of changing their scheduling relationship with Weber State, Rahe added.
"You hate to see those in-state rivalries broken up, and that's why we're willing to keep playing Utah and keep that in-state series going even if it means going to their place every year. We'll do it," the WSU coach said.
Utah and BYU are both leaving the Mountain West next season just as Boise State is joining it. Utah and Colorado are fleeing their conferences to join the Pac-10, while BYU is becoming an independent in football. BYU is joining the West Coast Conference in most other sports.
BYU and Utah's athletic directors have both said they wanted to maintain the rivalry known as the "Holy War" ever since Utah announced it was leaving the conference. The two programs have played in the same conferences together since 1906. They've played each other in football every year since 1922, with the exception of seasons in 1943-1945 because of World War II.
"The BYU-Utah rivalry is once of the best in the country and is very important to the fans of both schools," BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe said in a statement.
Utah and BYU typically meet in the last game of the regular season. That will no longer be the case.
The teams will play in Provo for the first game on Sept. 17, 2011, then the Cougars will travel to Salt Lake City for the Sept. 25, 2012, game.
The buyout for the Boise State games will cost Utah $350,000. Utah said it will mitigate some of that by recouping $250,000 from Iowa State, which canceled its return game. Utah and Iowa State play each other in Ames, Iowa, on Saturday.
Utah is replacing Iowa State on its schedule next season with a home game against Montana State.
BYU and Utah also said they've agreed to a four-year home-and-home series in basketball, with the schools playing each other one game a year on the second Saturday of December. The first game is scheduled for Dec. 10, 2011, in Salt Lake City.
Standard-Examiner reporter Roy Burton contributed to this report.
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