for the “cool” and more “fun” team to root for. Plenty of households aren’t die-hard fans of either school, so those kids are left to be persuaded by outside forces (friends, excitement around program, etc.)
Utah had the leg up for over a decade and it paid dividends, now it may be BYU’s turn to be the school that kids WANT to cheer for. Not only is it beneficial to a school and program for the fanbase to grow, but it most definitely has an impact on local recruiting for these college prospects that grow up dreaming to play for their favorite school.
Crazy that all it took was two years for BYU being on level playing field to close that gap with Utah despite them having an 11 year head start.