The rivalry between BYU and Utah runs deep and is arguably one of the most underrated college rivalries in the nation.
“You’re either red or blue,” said Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham. “There’s no in-between.”
Players on both sides have called it the “Super Bowl” when both teams get together and even when athletes are off and graduated, they still can’t get enough of the “Holy War.”
That was the case Sunday when former Utah basketball standout Keith Van Horn — who led the Utes to the Elite Eight before being taken with the No. 2 pick in the 1997 NBA Draft — started trolling the Cougars.
BYU (11-4), lost 114-101 to UVU (7-7) earlier this year — a team consisting of a number of former BYU and Utah players. The Wolverines shot the lights out making eight of their first nine attempts beyond the arc before finishing the night with 18 3-pointers to set a Marriott Center record.
And for whatever random reason, Van Horn just started tirelessly tweeting about it.
Did BYU lose to UVU in men's basketball this season or is that a fake news story?!!!
— Keith Van Horn (@Coach_Keith44) January 2, 2017
The nine-year NBA veteran didn’t stop there once Ute fans told him the good news.
as real as Trump winning the Presidency
— MUSS Emeritus (@MUSSemeritus) January 2, 2017
it's true Bruh 114-101
— yewtahman (@yewtahman) January 2, 2017
But it didn’t take long for some BYU fans to start throwing some shade right back thanks to the Utes losing to San Francisco — a perennial bottom-dweller in the West Coast Conference — two weeks ago in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.
@BlaineJacob as real as Utah losing to San Fran.
— The Sports Bros (@SportsBros) January 2, 2017
@utedaddy how quickly you forget your beloved Utes losing to Adams St and Montana St in the same year.
— Sporty McSports (@SportsOutliers) January 2, 2017
Van Horn followed up with, “So since UVU beat BYU in basketball this season. Is that BYU’s new rival?”
So since UVU beat BYU in basketball this season. Is that BYU's new rival? UVU?
— Keith Van Horn (@Coach_Keith44) January 2, 2017
Twitter user Shawn Johnson then took a page out of the “Larry $80K” playbook when he referenced Utah basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak’s decision to put the rivalry game on hold because the rivalry was “too heated” and wasn’t “safe” anymore. That of course, prompted the BYU student section to cleverly troll Utah with hard hats and safety first signs after the announcement.
We thought it was Utah until they decided the rilvary was too "heated" to play this year.
— Shawn Johnson (@HolyBuckeye_) January 2, 2017
Van Horn stopped tweeting after sending out a couple more jabs saying he was looking forward to those “epic” BYU-UVU church basketball matchups.
https://twitter.com/clayallen/status/815767401656557568
— Joe Nicholls (@JNJR) January 2, 2017
But at the end of the day, both fan bases really can’t complain thanks to the golden opportunity Van Horn game them to take another friendly dig at one another.
Happy New Year!
