NEW ORLEANS — Practically the first thing out of Alabama coach Nick Saban's mouth Sunday morning — other than a folksy how-ya'll-doin'? — was exactly how good Utah is.

Fast, efficient, disciplined, smart.

The Utes have it all.

"This is an outstanding team that we are playing in Utah," said Saban. "This is probably the only undefeated team left in the country now, which is a significant accomplishment in and of itself, and is a very, very difficult thing to do in this day and age, in terms of the consistency you have to play with."

He went on to note Utah has won seven straight bowl games, "which is also something difficult to accomplish."

And that was just the warm-up.

"They are a very good defensive team, ranked in the top 15 in the country. They are great in turnover margin, which is always an important factor in winning and losing."

And: "They are one of the most productive offensive teams that we have played. Their quarterback, Brian Johnson, does a great job of directing their offense. Very accurate. They have a good scheme, they are hard to defend and they utilize the personnel they have on offense extremely well."

Special bonus compliment: "They are very athletic on defense. They rush well, they rush and affect the quarterback, create a lot of things on loose-play downs."

Does that cover all their good qualities? Except daily flossing?

So why does this sound slightly suspicious?

Oh, right — because it's not necessarily true.

Sugar Bowl week kicked off Sunday at the New Orleans Marriott Convention Center, with 'Bama's Saban and Utah's Kyle Whittingham taking turns at the rostrum. As one might expect, there was nary a negative reference to be heard.

Like political campaigns and photo shoots, you wouldn't want it to look anything less than perfect.

Which is how it always works. You want to make it look like you're up against the superheroes of the Justice League of America. So it turns into a regular lovefest, sort of like a Mary Kay cosmetics convention: "My, you look lovely! You haven't aged a day! Who does your hair?"

A week ago, on a conference call, Tide quarterback John Parker Wilson called Utah "a great team."