• A Utah-Boise State matchup would probably be a better game than Texas-Ohio State.

As exciting as it might sound, one drawback from the standpoints of Utah and Boise State is that such a matchup wouldn't allow either school to show what they could do against one of the so-called "big boys." Detractors would still say the Utes and Broncos can't beat schools from the BCS conferences.

But perhaps the main reason it will never happen is television ratings.

Whether we like it or not, ratings play a part in these bowl decisions and the non-BCS schools have not fared well.

Of the 41 BCS bowl games played since 1998, the 2005 Fiesta Bowl between Utah and Pittsburgh is tied for 38th place with last year's Kansas-Virginia Tech Orange Bowl game with a 7.4 rating.

The lowest rated game? That would be last year's Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Hawaii, which garnered a 7.0 rating.

Even Boise State's exciting win over Oklahoma in 2007 only received an 8.4 rating, putting it at No. 36 on the list (the highest-rated BCS game was the thrilling 2006 Rose Bowl when Texas defeated Southern Cal 41-38 — a 21.7 rating).

So three of the six lowest-rated BCS bowl games involved schools from the non-BCS conferences. The average football fan doesn't seem to be as interested in watching the Utahs, Boise States and Hawaiis of the world.

For the Utes' sake, they hope TV ratings won't keep the Fiesta Bowl from choosing them to play Texas in a game matching the No. 3 and No. 6 teams in the country.

Regardless of whether UCLA shocks USC or Missouri upsets Oklahoma this week, it looks like Utah will be playing its biggest game in history in early January, either against Texas in the Fiesta Bowl or Alabama or Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

By Sunday night we'll finally know.

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