Top 10 Games I've Seen At Utah

I'm one softball game away from completing my fifth go-around as a member of the University of Utah Athletic Communications office, so I thought I'd reel off and riff about what I consider my top 10 games that I have been fortunate enough to witness live and in living color ...

10. No. 14 Seed Harvard Defeating No. 3 Seed New Mexico in the 'Second Round' of the 2013 NCAA Tournament / Butler Beats Syracuse and Kansas State to Advance to 2010 Final Four One of the better perks of the job is hosting tournaments like this so 'Cinderella' going all the way to the Final Four in its home city and a No. 14 seed taking down a No. 3 makes it even that much more exciting.

9. Volleyball vs. Stanford in 2012: Probably the only Utah loss in the countdown, but it was a great atmosphere for the first match in the Jon M. Huntsman since 1993 and sparked the team's move into the JHC for the 2013.

8. Softball vs. Oregon State in 2012: After dropping their first 16 Pac-12 Conference games, the Utes picked up their first-ever Pac-12 win. It was awesome to see the progress they made in 2013, as they took two of three from No. 2 Arizona State and No. 15 UCLA.

7. Men's Basketball vs. BYU in 2009: Overtime game (of course) saw Luke Nevill score 32 to lead Utah to a 94-88 win over a young Jimmer Fredette and gave the Utes an early leg up in the Mountain West Conference title chase.

6. Football vs. BYU in 2010: Brandon Burton blocks Mitch's Payne field goal attempt as time expires.

5. Volleyball at BYU in 2009: Down 2-0, it was a foregone conclusion that the Cougars were going to win. It was just a matter of when and by how much. But someone forgot to tell the Utes and head coach Beth Launiere ...

4. Volleyball Makes Sweet 16 Run in 2008: After winning the Mountain West Conference title, I got a chance to travel with the team across the country to Clemson, S.C., and the team swept its first two matches, including a road match from Atlantic Coast Conference champion Clemson. Clemson had a particularly amusing fan, who would wear Tiger face paint and sit at mid-court and roar like a tiger as the opponent tried to make plays.

3. 'Championship Saturday' on Nov. 23, 2008: Volleyball clinched Mountain West Conference tittle with a 3-1 win over nationally-ranked Colorado State and then Football clinched the MWC with a 48-24 win over BYU, also my first taste of how intense this rivalry really is! Gotta love the 'BCS! BCS! BCS!' chants from the Rice-Eccles Stadium crowd!

2. Football at BYU in 2011: 54-10. Enough said.

1. 2009 Sugar Bowl: Tough to beat being along on this trip! From the get-go, Utah overwhelmed Alabama in the first three series with its no-huddle offense and the Crimson Tide seemed unprepared for the blitz packages called by then-defensive coordinator Gary Andersen. The whole week down in New Orleans and on Bourbon Street and the image of an Alabama fan giving our bus caravan the bird will be life-long images!

Go Utes!