2011 football schedule shaping up

Thanks to the Pac-10 announcements Thursday, Utah’s 2011 football schedule is shaping up.
Here’s what is known for sure, the non-conference slate will consist of a home game against Montana State and road dates at BYU and Pittsburgh.
The inaugural Pac-12 schedule, which commissioner Larry Scott said should be released in the next 30-45 days, will feature contests against South Division foes Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, UCLA and USC. Utah’s other games will include four of the six teams in the North Division — California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington or Washington State.
Athletics director Chris Hill said the Utes have been assured of having five Pac-12 games at Rice-Eccles Stadium next fall.
“The exciting thing is the plans for the future are starting to unfold,” said Hill, who prefaced his comments by noting that Utah plays Colorado State this Saturday.
Later in the afternoon, Hill elaborated a little bit in a press release.
“We will play nine of the 11 schools every year in football, which gives us the opportunity to play everyone on a regular basis,” he said before discussing revenue sharing and scheduling for other sports. “A lot of thought also went into revenue sharing and the model selected gives the league a strong foundation for long-term success. Finalizing the scheduling format for all of the other sports was another big positive and one we think will benefit our teams, student-athletes and fans.”
As expected, Utah and Colorado will be travel partners.
For more info on the Pac-10 announcements, check out the main story at www.deserernews.com.