Countless times over the past four or five years fans of teams in BCS conferences have said something along the lines of: "Sure that mid-major team went undefeated, but they didn't play anybody," only to add, " if they played in a real conference, they'd have lost three games!"
I know it's just the Pac-10, but we're going to get a chance to see just how accurate that sentiment is when Utah officially makes their move.
The interesting thing about this is that, like it or not, it will be a referendum on mid-majors for future expansions. If, after a few years, Utah isn't in the mix for conference championships and major bowl games, the next time a major conference looks to expand, they're going to hesitate to pick up the latest, greatest, mid-major. Or, maybe, the latest, greatest mid-major will hesitate to join a major conference for fear of their success coming to a halt.
Maybe to a lesser extent, it could even impact future rankings. If Utah struggles against Pac-10 competition, pollsters may very well think twice before ranking a Boise State team with a weak Strength of Schedule in the top 10.
I'm not going to make any bold predictions, but I suspect the road to glory is going to get a little more difficult for the Utes in the coming seasons.