Without a true conference title contender, their fan base quickly devolves into a relatively small number of actual fans and mega donors, accompanied by a much larger group of basic degenerates, whose Ute “fandom” is really a statement versus the other team and predominant culture of the beehive state.

The latter group will latch on, buy tickets and T-shirts, and show up when times are good, but when times are bad they’re kinda useless and fade into the background. See Utah basketball.