BYU ) Cougars and the University of Utah ( Utah ) Utes have a longstanding intercollegiate rivalry . The annual college football game is frequently referred to as the Holy War . In the 1890s , when BYU was still known as Brigham Young Academy ( BYA ) , the two schools started competing athletically . The schools have met continually since 1909 in men 's basketball , and met once a year in football from 1922-2013 , with the exception of 1943 – 45 when BYU did not field a team due to World War II . Both schools formerly competed in the Mountain West Conference , but both teams left the MWC in 2011 — Utah joined the Pac-12 Conference and BYU became a football independent while joining the West Coast Conference for other sports
football independent
NCAA Division I FBS independent schools
BYU–Utah rivalry