Congratulations BYU - here is your national championship trophy... and for the rest of the nation, you get the Bowl Alliance and the Bowl Championship Series from now on.

I would take Utah's 2 BCS bowl wins over that 1984 NC any day.
I would take Utah's 2008-2009 13-0 season, Sugar Bowl blow out of Alabama, 4 wins over top-25, 8-0 MWC record from a conference that has 3 top-16 BCS teams over the 1984 BYU NC team...

SoCalUtahFan

For all the griping about the BCS why do Utah fans knock on BYU's national championship? They don't like the current system, yet they refuse to respect the historic one.

My preferred remedy for this is for the federal government to eliminate all federal funding for any university that participates in a collaborative effort to deny any other university, conference, or group of universities or conferences competitive opportunities by any means other than direct athletic involvement. Maybe then they'll get the message that once you accept government funding, you are beholden to that government. You can't steal taxpayer funds like that and then expect to be able to play monopoly with them. Hmmm...Monopoly. Is there a BCS version? You could have the Sun Belt and the MAC as that cheap housing at the beginning...the railroads could be the BCS bowls...I'm sure lots of conferences would argue about being Park Place and Broadway. Maybe the utilities could be the Heisman and the (mythical) National Championship. I'm thinking this could be fun.

Ute fans have been saying what a great accomplishment it is to get to a BCS bowl game. If you think the BCS is so great then accept what it gives you... You're the Sugar Bowl champs. The BCS and National champs are the Florida Gators... The Utes knew going into the Sugar Bowl that they weren't playing for the National Championship... don't say you're the national champs after you won the game.

If the system really worked, it should have been the BCS champion (Florida) playing Utah (the only team with a perfect record) in a bowl game... even if that was the Vegas Bowl. Utes... don't consider yourselves National Champs... you didn't win the popularity contest - Florida won that and, under the current system... the popularity contest winner is the national champion. That's still the way it worked in 1984 when BYU won, not much has changed. No other team that had a legitimate shot at the national championship in 1984 was willing to play the Cougars in the Holiday Bowl? The system seemed to work better in 1984 for the only team with a perfect season than it did for the 2008 season.

I think Utah deserves the national championship more than any other team. They were the only team that was perfect throughout the season. I don't think they are the best team in the country or even in the MWC, but the best team doesn't always win the game. Championships should be about winning on the field, not someone's opinion or vote. My opinion is that USC is the best football team in the country and TCU is the best football team in the MWC. But the MWC champion was decided on the field... Utah beat TCU and everyone else in the conference. Utah also beat everyone they played from every other conference, but they didn't get the votes...

The Utes got enough votes to get into a BCS game... and they seem to think that is a better accomplishment than a national championship (like BYU's 1984 championship.) BYU got the "votes" that year and they were perfect just like the Utes this year. So, if you ask me... BYU's national championship is more valid than Florida's championship this year. BYU proved it on the field and they won the popularity contest. Utes... just keep sayin' how good the BCS is.

Swofford said. "Preceding the BCS, I don't know if that platform would have been there."

I love his twist on words.... BUT he left out a very important fact.... precedeing the BCS... an undefeated UofU team would be the national champs, just like BYU in 1984.

Remember a year ago when UVA from the mighty ACC lost to Wyoming and then go on to be in the ACC championship game? Of course, the ACC wants to protect the BCS. They all got a huge payout this year and didn't have to play any real football. There might be two teams in the ACC that could be competitive in the MWC. If they merged the ACC and the MWC, most of the ACC would fall to the very bottom of the MWC. They would make San Diego look very very good.

The ACC commissioner likes the BCS because his schools benefit even when they're bad. Shurtleff is a latecomer to this dispute because he wants to profit politically from the Utes' season. He's just after publicity. However, at least he's finally got it right. The BCS schools will never allow the outcasts to become part of their party without some pressure from government or an abandonment by the media.

The BCS. like many of the comments already made needs to be done away with. The ACC guy can say all he wants about how fair the BCS is, but the facts remain that there were other one or two loss teams that happened to be from a BCS conference and played in a bigger pay out bowl. Prime example is the Poinsettia Bowl with TCU and Boise State. Both of these teams should have played in a bigger bowl and yet were denied that opportunity because you have teams like Cincinnati and Virginia Tech all had worse records and yet got a "free pass" into a bigger payout bowl than teams with better records like TCU and Boise State. Believing and saying that the current BCS system is fair is like saying that all politicians are honest. Sue the BCS and break it up!

Concerning the strength of schedule clown, let's talk. First the Utes win on the road in the "Big House". Imagine the intimidation factor when nobody really knew how good (or bad) Michigan would be. Tough road win to start the season. Played three ranked teams(Oregon State whom defeated the #1 USC Trojans, TCU who barely lost to #1 Okalahoma on the road and only other loss to #6 Utah, and BYU). One ranking has the Utes strength of schedule rated above Alabama. Final win against "highly ranked" Alabama. This win in the belly of the SEC beast as it was considered a "home" game, by most people, for Alabama. So to recap: 13-0; 3-0 against BCS conferences; 7-0 on the road; 6-0 against bowl teams; 4-0 against "Top 25" teams. One of their "cream puff" games was a win against a team that went to the 2nd round of the FCS playoffs who had defeated one of the teams in the FCS championship game. Who did they play? GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!!!