Colorado, a team co-owned by former Denver Broncos great John Elway, has had AFL playoff success, including an ArenaBowl title in 2005. The Crush are led by veteran AFL QB John Dutton, who set a single-season franchise record with 4,575 passing yards. He also completed 66.1 percent of his passes, which is also a Crush record.

The Blaze, meanwhile, enter the postseason with something to prove. White believes — and has told his team — that the AFL would rather not have small-market teams like Utah advance far in the playoffs.

"We've been kind of the unwanted stepchild since the start of the season, really," said White. "Everybody is talking about how they the AFL) need the big markets to do well, New York needs to win a championship and all of that. We're sick of hearing it. Nobody thinks teams like us and Grand Rapids has much to offer. So there is a bit of a chip on our shoulders over that, and I think that's good."

The Blaze have been paced by their offense — led by Germaine and the three standout wide receivers Boone, Huey Whittaker and J.J. McKelvey all season long. But the defense has been coming on of late as well. White called last week's road win over Arizona "our best defense game of the year." Utah's defense also played well in a previous game against the Crush at EnergySolutions Arena in May, giving up just 36 points.

The winner of today's game will advance to play on the road next week, but it won't know its opponent until late Monday night after the other conference wild-card game is complete. The Utah/Colorado winner will either face Chicago, the conference's top seed, or No. 2 San Jose depending on what happens in the Grand Rapids at Arizona game Monday.

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Playoff time

Colorado Crush (6-10) at Utah Blaze (6-10)
Today, 2 p.m.
EnergySolutions Arena
TV: ESPN
Radio: 1320 AM

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E-mail: lojo@desnews.com