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Tell Me Again Why Utah is Not National Champions?

Posted by EyesOfTX on January 3rd, 2009 under Football

Seriously, someone really give me a good explanation why we didn’t see the national champs on the field last night, pummeling a very good Alabama team, a team which spent most of the regular season as the top-ranked team in the country?  Because I can’t think of a reason at this point to deny the Utes the title.  At the very least, I sure do hope the voters in the AP poll were paying attention.

The Utes will be the only legitimate team that played a legitimate schedule (more on that in a moment) that will finish the season undefeated.   That much is assured.  All the major teams remaining to play have at least one loss on their record.

And I would submit to you that none of the remaining teams played an appreciably more difficult schedule than Utah did.  Nor did Southern Cal, the current darling of the drive-by sports reporters and analysts who infest ESPN. 

Here is the schedule Utah played this season, along with the results:

Michigan at Ann Arbor – Utah 25-23

vs. UNLV – Utah 42-21

at Utah State – Utah 58-10

at Air Force – Utah 30-23 

vs. Weber State – Utah 37-21

vs. Oregon State – Utah 31-28

at Wyoming – Utah 40-7

vs. Colorado State – Utah 49-16

at New Mexico – Utah 13-10

vs. TCU – Utah 13-10

at San Diego State – Utah 63-14

vs. BYU – Utah 48-24

vs. Alabama – Utah 31-17

By my count, that schedule represents wins over no fewer than 8 bowl teams.  And yeah, being a “bowl” team doesn’t mean what it used to mean, given that 57% of all Division I teams end up in bowls these days, but that is the yardstick the shills for the current system like to throw out there to defend it, so let’s go with it.

Besides, several of those are pretty legit teams.  Oregon State, after all, took out Southern Cal, ending any claim to a national championship the Trojans might still want to dish out there.  TCU had a hell of a defense this year, and was a legitimate Top 15 team.  Brigham Young deserves to be ranked in the top 20 or so.  And Alabama, as mentioned earlier, spent most of the regular season being touted as possibly the best team in the nation.

Was this the toughest schedule anyone faced this season?  Far from it.  But folks, there have been plenty of teams in the past that won the national championship playing far easier schedules than this one.  Check out the Longhorns’ 1963 schedule as a pretty good example.  I could probably find 15 more in the last 50 years if I wanted to take the time to do it.

We’ve established that USC’s loss to Oregon State eliminates them from any argument against the Utes.  What about the other one-loss contenders?

Florida plays in the vaunted SEC, but let’s be honest – the SEC had 3 or 4 good teams and squat else this year.  Once you get past Florida, Ole Miss, Alabama and I guess Georgia, you had a mess.  And, of the three remaining 1-loss teams yet to play, Florida had the worst loss of all of them, dropping a game to unranked Ole Miss at home.  Don’t get me wrong here – I think Florida probably is the strongest team in the country, and if everyone else had lost a game, I’d rank them #1 if they do defeat Oklahoma.  But Utah didn’t lose a game.

Eliminate the Gators.

Oklahoma?  Shit, Oklahoma lost to Texas.  They’re a fraud to even be playing this late in the year.  They have no legitimacy in any event.

Texas?  Texas and Oklahoma both played in the Big 12, which, until this bowl season kicked off, had been considered the strongest conference in the land.  But that was before Oklahoma State, Missouri and Texas Tech all came up crappers in their games against lower-ranked but obviously superior opponents.  After yesterday’s display of mindless ineptitude and utter lack of any semblance of character by the Red Raiders at the Cotton Bowl, the Longhorns’ loss to Tech, even at night at Lubbock, becomes an enormous blot on an otherwise stellar season.

At the end of the day (And I say that just because I know so many of you just hate the overuse of that phrase), the BCS system is what it is (ditto), and the winner of the Florida/Oklahoma contest will be crowned the #1 team in the country.  There is nothing to be done about that, and it will be just the final in a long list of indicators from this season that the BCS emperor is nekkid as a jaybird.

Those of us who would like to see a legitimate national champion crowned once all the dust has settled in this most frustrating of all college football seasons can only hope that the sportswriters and analysts who make up the voting body of the Associated Press poll were alert (possible), sober (unlikely), and intelligent enough (ok, I give up) to recognize that the team most deserving to be crowned national champions is the one that didn’t lose a game this year. 

Hook ‘em!!!

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42 Responses

  1. Turn the page, Fred said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 7:12 am

    You’ll get no argument from me.

  2. Pete Carroll said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 7:22 am

    I don’t think any team could beat USC this year.

  3. 98 said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 7:24 am

    i would vote for utah.

  4. exuLt said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 8:06 am

    Those Oregon State and TCU wins look pretty stout, considering how their bowls played out.

  5. Mike Riley said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 8:06 am

    I vote Utah, Pete.

  6. Bobby Jack Akina said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 8:09 am

    Utah has a serious case to make.

    And while we’re asking questions, can anyone explain to me why the Mountain West Conference shouldn’t be a BCS conference while the Big East and ACC are?

  7. HornbyMarriage said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 8:17 am

    Your comments are right on the mark. After flipping back and forth between the Utah game and the tech game(on DVR), I came to the same conclusion. Something has got to give, and this year there may be a perfect storm brewing.

  8. ArmTackler said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 8:27 am

    Agreed. However, I’m not sure if we can lump Mizzou into the “crapper” pile, since they didn’t lose their bowl game. Despite Chase Daniel’s propensity to to turn the ball over, and his inability to throw the ball to the players wearing gold & black. All that said, Utah deserves a share of the title. If strength of schedule mattered as much as it used to, they’d be in the conversation. But today’s SOS is Style Points. I saw a sign last night that said, “Isn’t Undefeated EnoUgh?” Clearly, it’s not.

  9. Steve Nebraska said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 8:35 am

    Utah looked better against Alabama than did Florida. And this was not a case of Alabama not really wanting to be there. This was a big game for them and for their fans.

  10. JoPa Tuberville said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 8:37 am

    Undefeated doesn’t mean national championship.

  11. 98horn said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 8:40 am

    The UTES are #1. Are you listening AP?

  12. comeonminers said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 8:40 am

    spot on with your comments , eyesoftx

  13. Nero said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 9:02 am

    Utah fans, like Texas fans, must enjoy the intrinsic value of their team and its performance this season. To rely on knuckleheads around the country to wake up and evaluate this thing fairly (or have a playoff) is an excercise in futility and will make one a sad and bitter person in the end. Know in your heart that you are “champions” of some sort anyway, and be happy. That goes for you too, Auburn 2004 and Boise St. 2006.

  14. Poor Aggies said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 9:03 am

    Hate to be the turd in the punch bowl, but since they backed out of playing us this year, I could not support them at #1.

  15. bgood2texas said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 9:03 am

    I just dont buy it. Put them in the big 12 or SEC and they’re a three loss team. Great year for the Utes, but they’re not the best team.

  16. Nero said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 9:03 am

    To paraphrase: Recognition is Vanity, and its quest is insanity.

  17. Nero said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 9:05 am

    Poor Aggies – In the regular season or are you talking about a possible fiesta bowl matchup that was avoided? Can you clarify?

  18. Old Tascosa said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 9:11 am

    Beating Oklahoma wasn’t enough, why would going undefeated be? Although Tech laid an egg in Dallas yesterday, leaving Texas with egg on its face, playing the LCL Sand Aggies in Lubbock is a different experience.

    I don’t know that I would vote Utah no.1, but a playoff between them, USC, MNC winner, and Texas, if they play as expected, would be interesting.

    This year will only be redeemed if it, together with last year, provide the motivation to at least move us to a Plus 1 format.

  19. Nero said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 9:18 am

    After all games are played, you will have (in no order):

    Utah – Legitimate Claim to MNC
    FL (if wins) – Legitimate Claim
    USC – Shaky Claim
    Texas – Shaky Claim
    OU (if wins) – Somewhat Legitimate Claim (under current system)

    So that’s FOUR teams that could still be considered MNC champs after the season. That’s more possible claims than a lot of the pre-BCS years under the classic bowl system. The BCS has solved nothing.

  20. Bob in Houston said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 9:22 am

    “Hate to be the turd in the punch bowl, but since they backed out of playing us this year, I could not support them at #1.”

    They reneged years ago when they had to redo their schedule when TCU joined the MWC. It’s not like they called in January, sent a check, and said, “We’re not playing.” I imagine dropping that series was a difficult decision.

  21. DrkBgrk said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 9:46 am

    Utah shouldn’t be champion because winning one post season game should only advance you one round.

    wait which part of college football is this post bitching about again?

  22. George Costanza said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 10:08 am

    Would we be having this conversation if we were in the BCS championship with one loss? Utah has played a little better than average schedule. Beating ‘Bama gives them some credibility, but other than that, TCU is the toughest team they played.

  23. George Costanza said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 10:13 am

    New York Times.

  24. BatesHorn said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 10:14 am

    I can’t argue with this line of thinking. Easily one of the most impressive victories of 2008. The next round of the college football playoffs when Utah faces off against USC should be amazing.

    Oh, wait…..

  25. Poor Aggies said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 11:14 am

    Nero – see what Bob said.

    If they had been on our schedule, we would have beaten them and not only would our SOS have improved, but they wouldn’t have been in a BCS game.

  26. The General said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 1:18 pm

    “Would we be having this conversation if we were in the BCS championship with one loss? Utah has played a little better than average schedule. Beating ‘Bama gives them some credibility, but other than that, TCU is the toughest team they played”

    No, we would argue against their inclusion and be wrong.

    There is no cogent argument that Utah is not deserving of consideration for the MNC. I hope something like the AFCA Legends poll ranks them #1 and they raise a banner.

    The BCS is just a poll. Why would any other poll be less authoritative?

  27. New Mexico said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 1:30 pm

    You mean we were only 3 pts from beating the national champs??

  28. Beaten dead horse said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 2:09 pm

    I’d put them fourth or fifth, after UT, Florida, Blow U, and USC. Any of these could beat them easily in a MNC game. Alabama was who we thought they were.

  29. dick said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 2:12 pm

    how important is Andre Smith to Alabama? that should be taken into account when comparing the Florida/Bama and the Utah/Bama game.

  30. The General said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 2:21 pm

    Andre Smith was worth 2 touchdowns?

  31. EyesOfTX said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 3:55 pm

    Hunh?

  32. Drunken Rooster said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 4:56 pm

    So what if ou beats Florida and we beat osu. The final standings or polls could be ou #1 and Texas #2 which would start the 45-35 thingy again.

  33. NorthDallasSooner said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 6:20 pm

    Coaches poll is contractually obligated to vote winner of BCS game #1. Utah’s 13-0, though, does more to advance a playoff argument than any of the 1 loss teams that feel jilted. They were really impressive. To win is one thing, to dominate another. Alabama had 205 total yards.

    Which loss is worse for it’s conference argument yesterday, Tech or Alabama?

  34. Ryan said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 6:34 pm

    They are contractually obligated, but coaches have voted for other teams in the past. In fact, I think Auburn garnered 2 or 3 #1 votes from coaches the year they went undefeated, even though they didn’t win the BCS title game.

  35. t1climb1 said:

    January 3rd, 2009 at 6:49 pm

    That’s an interesting question NDS. I have maintained for some time that Ole Miss was a lot better team than their record. The 4 losses they suffered were for 2, 6, 7, and 4 points, and they went undefeated in the month of November after really hitting their stride. Orgeron recruited some serious talent before he left.

  36. Ag_in_TX said:

    January 4th, 2009 at 7:50 am

    You neglect to mention that as all the voters are watching the game, they will be subjected to the hypnotic mantra of

    NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
    NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
    NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
    WE’LL GIVER THEM A TROPHY TO PROVE IT!!!!!!!

    There’ll be confetti cannons and everything…

  37. dasmithjones said:

    January 4th, 2009 at 9:06 am

    I was also impressed after watching the game. But after a little time has passed, I think it’s worth noting that they had a 3 point win over TCU and TCU lost to the Paperclips. Utah comes into the game highly motivated and has something to prove against the vaunted SEC. Alabama not too enthused with their bowl?

  38. EyesOfTX said:

    January 4th, 2009 at 9:47 am

    Yeah, TCU lost to OU, but once Patterson figured out how to get his defense set against the OU offense, TCU surrendered 7 points in the final 3 quarters. TCU is a damn good football team.

  39. caradoc said:

    January 4th, 2009 at 9:48 am

    At the end of the day, “it is what it is” is just as irritating.

  40. Earl T said:

    January 4th, 2009 at 9:53 am

    Utah’s win only emphasizes once more that CFB is a game where emotion plays such a huge factor on any given day!

    Utes’ UM win? Hell! Appy State beat a much better Wolverine squad because the striped helmets thought all they had to do was show up.

    Just like ‘Bama—the absolute last place the Tide wanted to be was in the S-Dome playing a team of “destiny” from Zion. Bama was bored and disinterested, not unlike that Colorado team which got blown out in the Fiesta Bowl, having been edged out by the Husk-frauds for a shot at Miami!

    I’ll say it again: these Bowl games are great for forcing some interesting intersectional rivalries on you w’Horns and yer regular season competition-dodging Confederate brethren!

    When y’all y’all get shown up, all of a sudden—it’s the “System’s” fault!! You guys make me laff til I puke!

  41. EyesOfTX said:

    January 4th, 2009 at 10:03 am

    Earl, if you’d be so kind to repeat that in English, I might try to reply. Thanks.

  42. Yassir Sanchez said:

    January 6th, 2009 at 8:05 am

    I would vote for Utah just to piss in Florida or especially OU’s cheerios.

    If true that the Coaches Poll is contractually obligate to vote for championship game winner then why even have the poll?

    The whole BCS business is getting more ridiculous by the minute only being competed with the sublime.

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