Mtn. comes back to bite MWC

Here are a couple of criticisms I've made with some frequency over the years — and the responses I tend to get for those criticisms.

First, the Mountain West's television deal hurts conference members because of the lack of national exposure. And, second, ESPN not only wields too much power but discriminates against college teams and conferences with which it does not have contracts.

The responses from the MWC and ESPN tend to include disparaging comments about me and accusations that I'm a big homer leading cheers for BYU and/or Utah.

Apparently, however, I'm not the only one who's noted these problems. In the wake of Utah's legitimate claim to at least a shot at the national championship, some of the focus has been aimed at the voters in the coaches' and Harris Interactive poll who never saw the Utes play until the Sugar Bowl. And on how ESPN hypes the teams it covers, which worked against Utah.

Yahoo! Sports columnist Dan Wetzel wrote a scathing column in which he addressed both issues. He quoted voters in the Harris poll who admitted they never saw the Utes play a single game — at most, they saw a few highlights. And, after the Sugar Bowl, they admitted they were wrong for not voting Utah higher.

"Even by the absurd standards of the BCS, having voters not bother to watch an undefeated team play a single game is a new low. Whether Utah deserved to be ranked No. 1, 2 or 25 isn't the point of this argument. The Utes deserved to have voters at least see them," Wetzel wrote.

And the fact is that it isn't easy to see any MWC team play when most of their games are on The mtn. Hey, even Wetzel, who was more than supportive of the Utes, didn't realize some MWC games are on CBS C.

But MWC commissioner Craig Thompson did what he always does — tried to put lipstick on the TV-deal pig.

"I think you can find Utah if you want to find it," he told Wetzel, missing the point altogether. Or, at least, avoiding it.

Interestingly, Wetzel also took on ESPN, which he called "the 800-pound gorilla of college football hype" that "is notorious for promoting the games and teams that it broadcasts. This past season that meant lots of Big 12 talk. ... Utah didn't receive the same attention."

Heck, Utah didn't receive the same attention as Fresno State of the WAC, which has a deal with ESPN. That would be the same Fresno State that finished 7-6.

And, in this case, it's Wetzel making these points. And he's not an alleged Utah and/or BYU homer.

IT WAS ALMOST as much fun to see and hear how astonished the Fox (and ESPN) sportscasters were by Utah's success against Alabama as it was to see the action on the field.

And it was a demonstration of how you can't teach some old dogs new tricks.

There was Fox's Barry Switzer, who gave Utah little chance before the game and little credit after. That would be the same Barry Switzer who, as Oklahoma's coach 24 years ago, openly disparaged BYU's national championship team.

He was wrong 24 years ago. He was wrong last week.

At least Switzer is consistent.

Hey, didn't the Salt Lake County Commission name a sewage lagoon after this guy back in 1984?

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com