Old Oquirrh Bucket

The Old Oquirrh Bucket (named after the Oquirrh Mountains to the west of Salt Lake City, as well as the famous Old Oaken Bucket) is the symbol of in-state basketball supremacy in Utah. Every year from 1974 to 2010, the trophy was awarded to the in-state college team (Utah State University (USU), University of Utah (U of U), Southern Utah University (SUU), Brigham Young University (BYU), Utah Valley University (UVU), and Weber State University (WSU)) that had the best win-loss record against in-state competition.

In 1974, a proposal was presented to create a trophy – a symbol to be awarded annually to Utah's best college basketball team. The concept was accepted and for the first two years the in-state title was awarded to the Aggies (USU), although no actual trophy had been determined.

In 1977, after Weber State won the title for the first time, an Ogden businessman located a pioneer bucket at a local auction, complete with a history of how it had been found. It became the traveling trophy emblematic of Utah college basketball supremacy.[1]

The plaque on the bucket includes a map with the names and locations of the 4 original schools (BYU, U of U, USU, and WSU or WSC for Weber State College). SUU and UVU did not field Division-I basketball programs at the time the trophy was created, but have since become members of the NCAA Division-I. The plaque includes the caption "The Oquirrh Bucket Utah State Collegiate Champ Basketball".

Utah (U of U) has won the bucket 14 times, followed by Utah State (USU) and Brigham Young (BYU) with 9 victories each, and Weber State (WSU) with 4. Neither of the other two schools have ever won the award. On November 15, 2010, it was announced that the trophy would be retired, due to the recent changes in conference alignments (Utah leaving the Mountain West for the Pac-12, BYU leaving the Mountain West for the West Coast Conference) and changes in scheduling of games among the in-state schools. The Old Oquirrh Bucket was last won by Utah State in both 2008–09 and 2009–10, and will be donated by Utah State University to the Utah Sports Hall of Fame.

Oquirrh Bucket history

2010–11 Season

   Record  
TeamGamesW L
BYU440
Utah State541
Utah312
Weber State413
Utah Valley101
Southern Utah202
DateMatch-up/ScoreLocation
Nov. 13, 2010Utah State77Weber State65Logan
Nov. 17, 2010BYU78Utah State72Provo
Nov. 20, 2010Utah State66Southern Utah53Cedar City
Nov. 20, 2010Utah90Weber State75Salt Lake City
Nov. 24, 2010Utah State79Utah62Logan
Dec. 11, 2010Weber State77Southern Utah71Cedar City
Dec. 18, 2010Utah State76Utah Valley58Orem
Dec. 21, 2010BYU72Weber State66Ogden
Jan. 11, 2011BYU104Utah79Salt Lake City
Feb. 12, 2011BYU72Utah59Provo

2009–10 Season

   Record  
TeamGamesW L
* Utah State651
BYU431
Weber State523
Utah413
Southern Utah202
Utah Valley101
*=Denotes Outright Champion
DateMatch-up/ScoreLocation
Nov. 13, 2009Utah State66Weber State60Ogden
Nov. 18, 2009Utah68Utah State67Salt Lake City
Nov. 27, 2009BYU87Weber State70Provo
Nov. 28, 2009Utah State89Southern Utah49Logan
Dec. 2, 2009Weber State83Utah76Ogden
Dec. 2, 2009Utah State71BYU61Logan
Dec. 12, 2009Weber State84Southern Utah66Ogden
Dec. 12, 2009Utah State87Utah Valley56Logan
Dec. 23, 2009Utah State85Weber State73Logan
Jan. 30, 2010BYU82Utah69Provo
Mar. 3, 2010BYU71Utah51Salt lake City

2008–09 Season

   Record  
TeamGamesW L
# Utah State541
# BYU431
Utah422
Utah Valley211
Weber State413
Southern Utah303
#=Disputed Champion. Both schools claim to have won.
DateMatch-up/ScoreLocation
Nov. 25, 2008Utah State75Weber State49Logan
Dec. 3, 2008BYU92Weber State62Ogden
Dec. 6, 2008BYU68Utah State63Salt Lake CityN
Dec. 13, 2008Utah State69Utah Valley50Orem
Dec. 13, 2008Weber State66Southern Utah62Cedar City
Dec. 17, 2008Utah State72Southern Utah65Cedar City
Dec. 20, 2008Utah Valley78Southern Utah72Orem
Dec. 20, 2008Utah74Weber State64Salt Lake City
Dec. 22, 2008Utah State66Utah64Logan
Jan. 27, 2009Utah94BYU88Salt Lake City
Feb. 28, 2009BYU63Utah50Provo
N=denotes game played at a neutral site.

References

  1. Utah State Basketball Media Guide, 1988
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