Utah Utes football: Whittingham silent about BCS bowl implications

Don't ask Utah coach Kyle Whittingham about it, because he's just focused on one thing — winning the game.

However, if the Utes should upset TCU, which is a 20-point favorite in the latest lines from Las Vegas, they could find themselves talking about going to another BCS bowl game for the second straight year and third time in six seasons.

Of course there would have to be a few other things line up for the Utes after Saturday if they happen to win, including wins over San Diego State and BYU the following two weeks and a Boise State loss. But the first step would be knocking off the mighty Horned Frogs, undefeated and ranked No. 4 in the nation.

Right now, Utah is ranked No. 16 in the BCS standings, down two spots from a week earlier, thanks mostly to the fact that they had to play 0-8 New Mexico.

The Utes actually went up in the human polls but slipped significantly in the computer polls because the Lobos happen to be one of the worst teams in America and beating them hurts, rather than helps you in computer polls, which are based partly on strength of schedule.

However, if Utah beats TCU, No. 4 in the BCS standings, it will climb in both the human and computer polls and almost certainly climb into the Top 12 of the BCS standings, perhaps even the Top 10.

Then the Utes would need to have Boise State lose to one of its remaining four WAC opponents and the Utes would likely end up as the best non-BCS team (Houston of Conference USA is a spot ahead of Utah in the current BCS standings, but the Utes would undoubtedly leapfrog the Cougars because of their games against TCU and BYU). The most likely upset for Boise would be to Nevada, which has won six straight games and laid 63 points on UNLV, 70 on Idaho and 62 last week against San Jose State.

But all of this talk is for the fans and media.

When asked at his Monday press conference what he thought about the national implications of Saturday's game, Whittingham quickly said, "We don't pay any attention to that. It's out of our control. Whether I cared a great deal about it or didn't care at all, it would have no bearing. All we do is try to win the next game and try to get that Mountain West Conference title."

Mountain West Conference title? What about another BCS bowl game?