Utes deserve No. 1 ranking

Four years ago, the University of Utah football team busted the BCS by dominating Pittsburgh. But college football's power structure could brush that one aside because Pittsburgh was the weakest of the BCS qualifiers that year.

This time, no one can brush anything aside.

Even if a smug Barry Switzer told the nation before the game that not one Ute player would have been on Alabama's recruiting list out of high school, Utah proved itself on the field in convincing fashion. This wasn't a Boise State razzle-dazzle finish that caught the opposition off guard. This was a whuppin' from start to finish, both offensively and defensively — an elegant expression of who was boss.

So, we have a question for the BCS brass. Utah is the only undefeated team in the nation. The Utes soundly beat the No. 4 team in the nation in a major bowl game. Why shouldn't the Utes be the No. 1 team in the nation?

And if they can't answer that question, how about this one: Why shouldn't the Utes at least have the opportunity to play the winner of the Florida-Oklahoma sham championship game?

And if, as we suspect, they stumble on that one, how about this: In what other NCAA sport can a team go undefeated and not have a chance at a national championship? We can't think of one, and the fact that this can happen in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision is a disgrace.

Barack Obama campaigned on the theme of change, but the Utes are the ones most likely to force the NCAA and its money-hungry bowl games into changing something that no reasonable person would design as a way to pick a champion. They keep getting in the faces of the BCS and winning their arguments on the field, which is the only suitable place for a football argument.

But since we mentioned Obama, the Utes and their fans may want to take up their cause with the soon-to-be occupant of the White House. On two separate occasions, the president-elect has said he favors a football playoff involving eight teams over a three-week series of bowls. We could quibble about that number. Some have proposed a much larger playoff that wouldn't extend the season much beyond its current length.

The new president, however, is onto something. Or maybe he simply sees what nearly everyone else in the country can see — that a playoff system would be good for fans, box-office receipts and, especially, the players.

And that until someone can beat the Utes this season, they deserve to be No. 1.