Brad Rock: Rock On

Rose-colored glasses

How can the Utes make a great first impression on the Pac-10?

By going to the Rose Bowl, of course.

So what are they waiting for?

According to the BCS's arrangement with the Rose Bowl, the 2011 game will feature winners of the Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences, as always. But should one of those teams go to the national title game, the top team from a nonautomatic qualifier conference would take its place. So if, say, Oregon played in the BCS title game, Boise State lost and Utah ran the table ...

Hellooooo, Pasadena.

Similarly, if BYU went undefeated this year, it could actually get to a Rose Bowl before the Utes.

What if BYU and Utah both went undefeated until their Nov. 27 game in Salt Lake City and the outcome decided who went to the Rose Bowl? Rock On will stop right there because his neuro-beta ion receiver is telling him the mother ship is about to lift off.

Spies like us

Jan Jorgensen, a 1280-The Zone radio personality, was banned from Ute football practices last week because he's too close to the enemy.

Jorgensen, a former all-Mountain West defensive lineman at BYU, was playing for the Cougars just eight months ago before landing a midday gig at The Zone. Seems Ute coach Kyle Whittingham thought Jorgensen posed a security risk.

Whittingham didn't eject Zone personality Hans Olsen, who has been gone for a decade from BYU, nor did he ban assistant coaches Kalani Sitake and Aaron Roderick — both ex-Cougar players.

However, Rock On sources have confirmed they did have to submit to a full body search and retinal scan before practice.

Hate happens

SI.com released its list of the 25 most-hated teams in sports history last week, with the winners (losers?) ranging from the 1986 University of Miami football team to this year's LeBron-led Miami Heat.

Nobody from Utah made the list, though BYU was once named the most hated football team in the nation by Sports Illustrated — which was quite an accomplishment considering that was long before Austin Collie's "magic happens" comment and Max Hall's recent "I hate Utah" rant.

Worm report

Brad Dickson, Omaha World-Herald: "Dennis Rodman was a passenger in an SUV that overturned. He's OK. Rodman was reported to be 'stable,' which I believe is a first."

e-mail: rock@desnews.com