Utes' finish was expected

Although the Utes might have been disappointed to not be ranked No. 1 despite being the only unbeaten team in America, they couldn't have really expected it under the current system. It was only after a few prominent national writers jumped on the Ute bandwagon in the days following the win over Alabama that the idea of Utah being No. 1 became a longshot possibility. The fact that the Utes got 16 first-place A.P. votes and finished second was as good as the Utes could have hoped for. ...

A lot of folks have pointed out that Florida was the best team in the country and thus deserved the No. 1 ranking. Probably so. But in other sports, the best team doesn't necessarily win championships every year. It's the teams that are the best at the end of the season. Look at the Philadelphia Eagles, who sat in last place in their division most of the year and needed a series of fortunate outcomes two weeks ago to even make the playoffs. Now the Eagles are a game away from playing in the Super Bowl. Florida was very good at the end, but so was Utah, which played its best ball of the year over its last four games. ...

While I would like to see some sort of playoff for college football, I realize it's not as easy as some folks might think. One thing people who want football playoffs fail to consider are the logistics of a three- or four-week playoff. If playoffs were held during December, it would be very difficult for fans to follow their team to different sites each week. Can you imagine Ute fans after a week in New Orleans, having to travel to Miami the next week and to Phoenix the following week? Not only would the cost be prohibitive, but finding the time during the holiday season would also be difficult. ...

One advantage the bowl system has over playoffs is that 34 schools end the year happy, as opposed to only one. ...

It should be another good football year in 2009 for the Mountain West Conference. Besides Utah's high finish, TCU ended up No. 7 in both polls, while BYU finished 21st and 25th in the rankings and all three teams could be ranked in next year's initial Top 25. That would give the league a better chance to compete for a national title if one of them goes unbeaten again. ...

With new coaches at San Diego State, New Mexico and Wyoming, those schools could all be improved, while Air Force and Colorado State's programs both seem to be on the rise under young coaches. As for UNLV, who knows what to think? The concern for the league could be that the lower-division MWC teams become TOO good. Because the worst thing would be for parity to hit the MWC like in the ACC and Big East this year. The last thing the league needs is a 6-2 champion. Of course, the biggest key for the MWC prominence is winning as many of its non-conference games as possible. ...

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