NEW ORLEANS — Enough already.

Enough.

Enough.

Enough.

Uncle.

They play football in Utah. Really good football. The Utes can take that chip off their shoulder now.

They belong in the Bowl Championship Series. They belong on the field with the best teams in the country.

Just ask the University of Alabama. Friday night in the Sugar Bowl, No 7 Utah took the No. 4 Crimson Tide to school.

The Utes beat Bama like it was Wyoming.

Final score: Utah 31, Alabama 17.

That should take care of all those preconceptions that the Mountain West Conference champion should not have been here.

A small sign in the middle of the more than 15,000 Ute fans who made the long and costly trip told the story.

"Respect Us," it read.

The 'U' was bright red. The same color of Alabama coach Nick Saban's face most of the night.

Heck, send the Utes to Miami next week and let them play for the national championship. They are, after all, the only unbeaten team left in the country.

Why shouldn't they be there? They beat Alabama in a way No. 1 Florida could only dream about. And Florida, with a loss, is in Miami playing Oklahoma, another team with a loss.

"No. 1, No. 1" the Utah fans and players chanted when it was over. The words bounced off the walls in the massive Superdome.

"I know where I'm voting us," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "I'm voting us No. 1."

(In the rules of the USA Today coaches poll, however, all coaches must vote for the BCS National Championship game winner No. 1.)

Utah is the best argument for a playoff. They will likely never win a national championship without one. And this team might be good enough to win it all. And we'll never know because the system is screwed up.

But we do know this: Alabama's dream season turned into a nightmare in the first quarter under an avalanche of Utah offensive pressure.

Alabama had given up 27 first-quarter points all season. Utah hung 21 on Bama in the first 15 minutes.

Think about that. In 13 games, Alabama allowed less than four touchdowns in the opening quarter.

Utah put up three and forced the Tide to change their personnel.

With the Utes spreading the field, Alabama took All-America noseguard Terrence Cody, a 365-pound clog in the middle, out and put quicker players in his place.

An All-American reduced to spectator.

Cody wasn't the only Tide All-American watching and not playing. Offensive tackle Andre Smith, a consensus All-America pick and Outland Trophy winner, took himself out of the game earlier in the week.