Reilly Rocks! | 12:39 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I have always loved Rick Reilly and now I truly know why!
Senhor Tambor | 12:45 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Right On!

Those Utes are the champs!

Anyone else 13-0?
Enough | 12:52 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Get over yourselves Utah fans, ain't gonna happen no matter how much you whine and cry.
Comments continue below
Oh really? | 12:59 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Judging by some of the moronic comments directed at Utes fans lately, you'd think it was only whining Ute fans who felt this way! Apparently, complaining about the FRAUD that is the BCS "Championship" isn't just a whiny Ute fan thing.

Wow, and some of you thought you were so clever with your put downs...
Jed | 1:08 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Doesn't matter to me if it is Utah or Oklahoma, cuz my BYU Cougars are gonna beat them both next year. Go Cougars!!!

And Congrats to the Utes on a perfect, undefeated season!
silly | 1:16 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Rick is trying to make the point that the BCS is stupid - and he is right. However, go ask teams in the Pac 10 or the SouthEast conference if Utah is the best in the land and both players and coaches alike will laugh. Look people, Utah had a great win against Alabama but the best in the land?? Come on. TCU had them on the ropes and ended up beating themselves. The Oregon State game should have gone to OSU with a little bit of clock management. Utah also benefited from a great HOME season with OSU, TCU and BYU all at home. Utah plays in the MWC and the ONLY way to suggest that a team from the MWC is the best is to have a playoff. It is much easier for Utah to get 10+ wins than a team in the Pac 10 or South East conferences and that is why Utah can't be seriously considered to be the best in the land.
Aaron | 1:23 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
If Oklahoma wins tonight, we should look at the commomn opponet between Utah and Oklahoma. They both played TCU at their own home field. Oklahoma destroyed TCU 35-10 and Utah won by Tcu missing 2 chip shot field goals. If Oklahoma wins they will have beaten 6 ranked teams, that would 2 more than Utah. I would say Oklahoma is the better team and should be National Champs. If Florida wins, Utah should be co national champ with Florida they both beat Alabama by about the same margin.
Conejo | 1:35 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
From a full time BYU fan: I don't know if Utah could beat Florida, Oklahoma, or Texas. I say they give the championship to Utah and make the "Big Boys" wish they could have a playoff because THEY didn't get to prove it on the field. In fact, I say they rank non-BCS teams 1-15 at the first of the year and see if the BCS teams can work their way up the polls. I mean, they should have to prove they belong there every year right?
Re: Enough | 1:43 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
It ain't gonna happen because the whiney poll voters are afraid that Utah might actually win the BCS title game and then they couldn't use the "Alabama didn't really want to be there" excuse. And if Utah did win the BCS title game, they would use the "It was only one game" excuse.

The BCS cares only about who SHOULD win, not about who DOES win!
BYU Fan | 1:55 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Way to go Utah! You deserve it!
Re: Silly | 1:55 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
So you're saying that a team that doesn't "dominate" their opponents every single game, but has a "decent" season, gets invited to March Madness and manages to win the NCAA Basketball Tournament, doesn't deserve to be crowned "National Champion" because some other team beat some other common opponent team by more points?

The point is... we'll never know who really is "National Champion" until there is an actual football playoff!
RE: Aaron | 2:28 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
If florida wins they are the national champions yes the beat Bama by the same point margin Utah did BUT they did NOT have Percy Harvin who is the most EXPLOSIVE player in the NCAA. and either way Utah couldn't beat OU UF or bama again if they actually showed up to play the game. so top crying Ute fans be happy you got as far as you did.

RE BYU fan
BYU gets killed by OU next year 42-7
Maddog | 2:38 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Hey silly....I am so tired of hearing "should have","what if", Utah was lucky to...etc. the fact is they WON. Oklahoma and Florida have each lost one. You can play the who's better game until your blue in the face. Until these teams face each other directly you will never know for sure who would win. The fact still remains that Utah was undefeated. Nobody else was. They are the rightful champs. Do I need to draw diagrams for you?
Aaron | 2:37 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Thanks for your kind words about Oklahoma. They are a great team and if they show up tonight they will win. They sometimes have a habit of not showing up at bowl games. This year they have beaten so many teams by high scores and certainly hope they do that tonight. Go Oklahoma!!!!!!! I will be sitting on the edge of my seat. Should be a good game between OU/BYU next fall in Texas. I will be for BYU then. I thought Utah played a GREAT game against Alabama. Sure did enjoy that game!!!!!
BYU Fans for 13-0 Utah Utes | 2:41 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I just started a Facebook group by the same name. Check it out.
Jed | 2:44 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Bring it on...can hardly wait for next year to put an end to the BYU fans that can't quit whining about the Sooners!
mikey2 | 2:46 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
undefeated is undefeated twice the utes went in underdogs to a bowl twice they won big they just arent in as big a market as some other schools so the bcs just follows the money
Max | 3:03 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
it will be interesting to see what the AP voters will do. Given a lot of "unofficial" polling and responses at USAToday and elsewhere, I would not be surprised to see Utah end up #1 in the AP and #4 in the BCS polls tomorrow.

Utes are national champions in my book regardless. We'll paste Rick Reilly's trophy in one of the cases in the Huntsman Center.
I Think We Need Some T-Shirts | 3:23 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Those "quest for perfection" t-shirts will be great now that we have actually achieved PERFECTION ! Hey BYU, could you dye those quest t-shirts you have to a beautiful crimson red and send up this way?

Utah is THE National Champion in my book.

Guess the state now has two teams with national championship titles
Bamagirl | 3:38 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I agree that there should be some serious changes in the BSC. Boise got shut out a couple of years ago when they should have had the national championship as well.

The reality of how the money is all passed around to the 'big conferences' is wrong, but until there is an equality within the weight of the conference schedules, there isn't a way to balance the scales.

While we DO need some kind of playoff series, we need to remember who we are talking about here - college age KIDS who are also trying to get a degree in something besides underwater basketweaving...adding more games to their already full schedule might be a pretty heavy price to pay for a trophy.

It is a subject which requires some serious intervention in order to sort it out...

In the meantime, CONGRATULATIONS to the Utes. They have had a great season!
MEB | 3:49 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
@1:55pm - To your point, all arguments against a playoff in College Football fall flat on their face when you compare them to March Madness.

How about this one? We should change March Madness so that as soon as we determine the Final 4, we should stop the tournament and vote for the champion. It should be based on who has been there in the past, and who beat what team by how much.

That ought to be a lot of fun...

GO UTES!
Re: Conejo | 4:09 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
If Division-1 college football were run like the elite soccer leagues in Europe you'd see something similar happening.

For example, after this season Utah, Boise State, and likely BYU would "move up" to the PAC-10, while Washington, Washington State, and UCLA would be "demoted" to the MWC.

TCU would get the spot it so richly deserves in the Big 12, while Baylor would be dropped to Conference-USA.

The only problem for USU fans is the Aggies would end up in the Big Sky while Weber State would move up to the WAC.

In any case, doormat teams from the "big leagues" who couldn't compete regularly would get sent down until they proved they could, and top teams from the "mid majors" who showed they were good enough would get a chance to compete against the "big boys".

And there would be no creampuffs (cough, Iowa State, cough) every year for the BCS teams to fatten up on. USC, Oklahoma, and others would have to play against the top teams and PROVE they were the best.
Dudes bashing BCS | 4:23 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
No one really believes Utah is the best team in the country outside of 20,000 people that admit to being Ute fans during an off year.

"Texas? You think beating Ohio State by a nubby three points gets you the title?"

No way. But beating a powerful 4-8 New Mexico 13-10 shows off that offensive power and stunning defense that a National champion should have.

Who are we trying to kid with this?

I did like the picture of the trophy in the article.

I'm guessing 4-5 inches tall.
Die Hard Byu Fan | 4:35 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Man, I gave the Utes props after the Sugar Bowl just like most BYU fans did.

And then when I read the comments from all the jerk Ute fans about BYU playing Oklahoma, I realized that Utah does not have the class, the solid season, and really just played an uninspired Bama team that had their rug pulled out from under them.

National Champs?

Whoever wins the game tonight.
Re: Silly | 5:12 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Coulda, shoulda, woulda, but DIDN'T!!

You could say the same thing about USC not beating Oregon State, about Ohio State losing to Texas, about Texas losing to Texas Tech, about Florida losing to Ole Miss, and the list goes on.

In the final analysis, it should (but unfortunately doesn't in this case) come down to SCOREBOARD.
re: silly | 5:13 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Your argument is weakened by the inclusion of the Pac 10 in your argument. Based on this year's actual results (MWC 6-2 against the Pac 10) most every MWC team would have gone undefeated if they played in the Pac 10. It sounds "silly" and obnoxious but I'm just sticking to the facts there giggle guy!
re: dudes bashing BCS | 5:45 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Hey just FYI on a poll on ESPN.com every state but Oklahoma thought Utah deserved part of the national championship. Even Florida was more than 50% for Utah!! Overall it was 66 to 34. So I recognize ESPN polls are not scientific, but I think you are wrong when you say only 20,000 people who are Utah fans think they deserve to win it. I bleed blue and I for one think they deserve it!

Go Cougars!
PS Thanks Utah basketball team for starting to play. Now I actually am interested in the BYU Utah basketball game.
Utah is National Champion | 6:14 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009

So why watch tonight's game. It's bogus.

Utah is National Champion --people's choice and logical choice.

SoCalUtahFan
re: Die Hard Byu Fan | 4:35 p.m. | 7:14 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
"And then when I read the comments from all the jerk Ute fans about BYU playing Oklahoma, I realized that Utah does not have the class."

New to the University of Utah Fanbase?

I for one am not surprised.
Careful What You Say | 7:19 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
To every single person out there that thinks Utah should be the National Champion, I agree with you. Realize, though, that if you believe Utah deserves the prize this year; then you can never question BYU's 1984 National Championship. Different years, but same circumstances. Both teams did all they could do within their own power, which was to defeat every opponent.
Call It Like It Is... | 7:21 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
To say the Utes should be the National Champs comes off as whining. All you can clearly say is that under the current system, you don't know how good you really are. The flawed system prohibits you from truly knowing. You did win a big, but really meaningless bowl game. It was a grand exhibition of sorts. I mean what did winning the Sugar Bowl really mean? It means you beat a tough Alabama team. Period. That's why the BCS is such a ridiculous system. The UTES are tough. Real tough. But, it just leaves a huge question mark as it whether they are good enough to be the best in the land. It really is a tragedy. Regardless, you guys should be ultra-proud, but not irrational.
THAT'S FUNNY! | 7:48 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I'm proud of the Utes and think they deserve a chance to see how good they really are. I'm just not convinced that they are the best team in the land. They beat #4 Alabama, the 2nd best team in their conference. That doesn't quite to it for me. It's just too bad that they had to play in the BCS era because there is a real chance that they are the best and could prove it without the question marks. I do think it's funny and hypocritical that Ute fans discredit BYUs 1984 National Championship based on the same logic they are using to justify why they should be champs. Now that is funny.
BYU&UTAHFAN | 7:55 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Clearly the Utes should be the national champions. Anyone who argues with that needs a reality check!
1984 | 8:02 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
BYU beat a 6-5 Michigan team in the Holiday bowl to win the National Championship. By '84 standards, Utah IS the Natiaonal Champion. BYU didn't dominate every team they played in '84 but the beat them and went undefeated. Utah did the same thing and ended it with an exclamation point. You can't say that if only Utah could play Oklahoma or Florida. Nobody knows what would happen. That's why they play the game. Nobody thought they would dominate Alabama. Giving reasons why Utah isn't the national champ is just hair-spliting.
re: BYU&UTAHFAN | 7:55 p.m. | 8:08 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
"Clearly the Utes should be the national champions. Anyone who argues with that needs a reality check!"

Hummmmmmm, so where do we all go for that reality check?

I don't think there is enough space in Utah for all of us.

Maybe you should all get out of that thin air.
RE: 1984 | 8:32 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Giving reasons why Utah IS the National Champs (when they aren't under the current system) is just hair-splitting. The whole reason this thread is going is because people are taking sides. Wouldn't it be nice if it was undisputed and the thread count was 0???
Reality Check | 9:35 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Utah jumps from #7 to #1.
re: silly | 9:39 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I live in the heart of the SEC, and before the Sugar Bowl everybody chuckled when I told them I had every expectation of Utah winning. After the Sugar Bowl, I haven't heard a single person disagree with me that Utah has as much right to the Title as Florida or Oklahoma. Many of them told me that they should just be crowned the champions. That said, I agree, Utah had close game with TCU, but they didn't lose! Compare that to Florida who lost to Mississippi at HOME!!! Compare that to USC who lost to Oregon State, badly!! Compare that to Texas who lost to Texas Tech, or Oklahoma who lost to Texas! Yeah, Utah had close games, but they are the only team to go undefeated. By the way, your comments about Oregon State were wrong. Utah outplayed Oregon State. If it wasn't for the 13 points Utah handed Oregon State in free scores, it would've been a killing. A lot of people thought the Oregon State coach played should've gone for one instead of two on some of touchdowns, but every he always went for the score that had the least risk for the most rewards!
Reilly rocks | 9:44 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
nice to see Rick reilly come down solidly for the Utes. Great column. Thanks DN!
re: Aaron | 9:51 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I agree that Oklahoma will have beaten more ranked teams, but don't forget they will have a loss where Utah doesn't. Based on your Oklahoma argument of ranked wins, I don't see how Utah and Florida should share the title. Utah has beaten four currently ranked teams (TCU, Alabama, BYU, and Oregon State). Florida has beaten three currently ranked teams (Oklahoma, Alabama, and Georgia). They have also lost to Mississippi! Florida was losing to Alabama until half way through the 4th quarter. Utah killed Alabama. The only reason why the score wasn't worse, was because Utah didn't run up the score on Alabama. They did clock management the last couple possessions to burn off the clock rather than add to the score. Florida didn't let up when it took the lead over Alabama as they were going for style points.
re: RE: Aaron | 10:00 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Oh Please! Alabama showed up for that game, and they got killed! You disagree, then have a freaking playoff and prove it. I knew Utah could beat Alabama going into that game. They have only beaten two currently ranked teams (Georgia and Mississippi). They also had a lot of close calls against teams that stank (LSU was a win in OT, KY, and Ole Miss). Florida isn't much better (Alabama, Georgia, and now a win over Oklahoma). Let me point out this is a team that lost to Mississippi at home!! How about USC? Wins over (Oregon, Ohio State and Penn State), but a near loss to Arizona, and a complete pasting by Oregon State. Oh, but Utah had a close game against TCU, etc. I still have to point out that they never lost compared to everybody else! Oh, and they beat four currently ranked teams, two of which will finish in the top 10!
re: MEB | 10:08 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Great point! I wonder how many people will tune in for the Championship then? I bet March madness will be known as March madness for a different reason! How many Champions from March Madness were the ones picked by the polls at the end of the season? Those polls have to be much more accurate than the College Football polls because there are a lot more games to give people a better idea of how teams will match up, but there are still a lot of teams that make it further than everybody predicted, sometimes all the way to Championship!
SCAT | 10:11 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Get over it Utah fans you STILL will not be #1!! For all of you that thought BYU didnt deserve #1 in 1984 (Which was 99.99% of Utah Fans) This is why you dont deserve #1 in 2009!!
BCS | 10:10 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Florida is the champion end of story!
When UF played bama they didnt have Percy Harvin and they didnt go for style points like you think..
lets look at this U of U beat TCU 13-10 with TCU missing 2 36 yard field goals.. OU beat TCU 35-10.. Florida Just Beat OU 24-14 and could have scored again so UF would Kill TCU and OU, and Florida would DESTROY Utah. if Utah Wants to prove something go to THE SWAMP and see how that turns out for ya. Probably not so good.
re: Dudes bashing BCS | 10:19 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
One other thing! Boise upset Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, but people have to wonder if they could do it again. Nobody I know deep down in SEC country where I live doesn't feel that Utah couldn't whip Alabama all over again!
Official count | 10:27 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
National Championships:

BYU - 1
UTAH - 0

Can't argue with that!!!!!
re: Die Hard Byu Fan | 10:30 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I'm a die hard Ute, and I hope BYU kicks everybody they play until the Utah game. Outside of the conference, every win will make the conference look better. Inside the conference, every win makes Utah look better! That said, you just turned into one of the "fans" you are criticizing! You're so upset at some other fans, that you will join in on the rant that makes the MWC look bad just because you don't want to give Utah any credit. The fact is that the MWC beat the PAC 10, 6-2! Utah beat the team that beat USC, and should've won the PAC 10 if their running back wasn't injured for the Oregon game! I was upset by BYU dropping the game to Arizona as that did not help the MWC look good. That was obviously a game where BYU went in unprepared because they should've won that one! I'm hoping BYU will be up to Oklahoma next year! We need to keep the MWC at the top of the rankings. For those that don't think the MWC is any good, I would like to ask how many conferences will have two teams in the top 10?
It's time | 10:39 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Just as BYU prompted the BCS to be created, (so that no other team from an "inferior"conference could win a Natl. championship} Maybe an undefeated Ute team will prompt more people to get on the PLAYOFF bandwagon.
As for the utes winning the AP vote. Not likely. The strenght of schedule kills them. I wonder how they would have done against Alabama if they only had one week to prepare instead of almost a month and a half!
Congrats for a perfect season and probably a # 4 or 5 finish. Too bad! The utes probably beserve better.
re: Careful What You Say | 10:44 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I agree that BYU should've had a shot in the playoffs to prove that they deserved the National Championship in 1984. I think they deserved it since nobody would play them except Michigan because they wanted more money. Do I actually believe they could've won the championship in a playoff? No. They hadn't played anybody, and almost lost to Michigan. The 2004 Utes were in the same situation. They hadn't played anybody that was currently ranked. Do I actually think they would've won a championship in a playoff? Yes. Nobody played Utah even remotely close that year, and they played incredible football. The 2008 Utes are in a different position. They have beat two teams that will finish in the top 10. They will have also beaten two teams that will probably finish in the top 25. They are also the only undefeated team! Do I think that they can win the championship in a playoff? Yes. In these scenarios, I have my predictions, but how often can you pick the final champion during March Madness, even if you base your predictions on the Elite Eight? That is why we need a playoff because a poll can't decide the outcome!
re: Call It Like It Is | 10:53 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I disagree that calling the Utes the National Champions is whining! First of all, you got people like Reilly that is not a Ute fan, but he thinks Utah deserves it more than anybody else. I live in SEC land, and I saw many an eye roll when I told people I expected Utah to beat Alabama. Now, I have them tell me Utah should be the champion, or at least have a chance to play for it.

That said, I do agree that nothing is proved without a playoff. Still, Utah has a better claim than the BCS champion that has one loss! Utah has no losses, and has won more ranked teams! Utah also dominated Alabama, who Florida was losing to until half way through the fourth quarter. Florida also lost to Mississippi at home! I could see Florida beating Utah in a playoff, but I think Utah has the better chance of beating Florida! Without a playoff, we will never know if the 1984 BYU team wasn't truly the National Champs, or if the 2004 Utes weren't truly the National Champs, or if the 2008 Utes weren't truly the National Champs. Currently voting decides, I vote UTAH!!!

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