Reader comments: 'Grudge match' was over before it really began

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Warts and all | 8:03 a.m. Oct. 12, 2008
on their competition, Utah and BYU are both still undefeated.

Utah dispatched a hapless Wyoming team.

BYU beat a much better New Mexico team.
Spin city | 8:20 a.m. Oct. 12, 2008
Gotta love the Utah fans claiming that Utah really shut out Wyoming, even though the final score was 40-7.

Utah really beat BYU the last two years, even though the scoreboard says otherwise.

And we should still be impressed with Utah's win in the Big House, even though a 1-4 MAC team just beat Michigan (2-4) in the Big House.

Rating the four BCS opponents Utah and BYU have played:

Oregon State (3-3, did beat former #1 USC; just destroyed Washington State, as if that proves anything)
UCLA (2-4, just lost a 7-point game at Oregon)
Washington (0-6, but haven't lost to anybody nearly as bad as Toledo)
Michigan (2-4, only wins, over Miami, Ohio (1-5) 16-6, and over Wisconsin 3-3)
Re: Spin City | 10:15 a.m. Oct. 12, 2008
By no means did Utah shut out Wyo.

But Utah's wins are still better than BYU's.

Oregon State (3-3) > UCLA (2-4)
Michigan (2-4) > Washington (0-6)

Or, you could look at it like this:

Utah's BCS opponents : 5-7
BYU's BCS opponents : 2-10
Comments continue below
Bob 2 | 10:25 a.m. Oct. 12, 2008
Boy, Spin--you really seem convinced that the Coogs have been truly tested and the Utes have played cupcakes. Umm, can I throw something in here?

Jeff Sagarin SOS rankings. (Used by BCS).

Utah (72)
BYU (121)
Sad truth Utah fans | 11:37 a.m. Oct. 12, 2008
Oregon State > UCLA > Washington > Michigan

Utah's SOS has peaked, and will drop weekly throughout the remainder of the season.

BYU's SOS has bottomed out, and will continue to climb throughout the remainder of the season.

By the end of the season, their respective SOS's will be within 10-20 places overall. Watch and learn Utah homers.

Besides, SOS is meaningless as far as BYU and Utah are concerned, since the deciding factor will be their head-to-head matchup on November 22nd.

Anyone who thinks otherwise is clueless.
Polls | 11:43 a.m. Oct. 12, 2008
BYU #8 Coaches, #9 AP, #9 Harris
Utah #13 Coaches, #14 AP, #13 Harris

Despite the constant spin from Utah fans, BYU is still considered to be a better team than Utah by the coaches, sportswriters, and talking heads, whose opinions actually count.
Polls | 1:09 p.m. Oct. 12, 2008
And the Coaches, Spritswriters, and Talking heads also thought all those team that lost the last couple of weeks where top 5 teams. I guess that shows how much they really know. The only way to tell who is the better teams is to play. That is why the BCS system is so wrong. Only a playoffs would really give any credit to anyones claim to a national championship. All these so called championships don't mean anything. That would include BYU's 1984 championship.

Once we have a playoff then I will give credit to the team that wins the whole thing. Other wise it just peoples opinions. And as we can see every week those opinions are wrong a good percent of the time.
Re: Sad Truth Utah Fans | 1:14 p.m. Oct. 12, 2008
What reasoning do you have to say that BYU's SOS will climb throughout the rest of the season, and Utah's will drop? Both teams still play TCU and each other, which will help both teams (even give an extra nod to Utah since BYU is the "better" team, but it evens out since Utah gets both at home). BYU still has perennial MWC powerhouse UNLV left on their schedule.

Oh, and is BYU's schedule right? Do they really have to play a FBS team this week with a winning record? Who is responsible for that?
re sad truth | 3:34 p.m. Oct. 12, 2008
yeah with the way things are heading its look like ucla with probably finish third or fourth from the bottom in the pac ten. and oregon state mostly like 3 or 4 from the top
Benefit of the doubt | 4:00 p.m. Oct. 12, 2008
In light of the windy conditions yesterday, the offense did a reasonalbe job. And you gotta love the total team effort so far this year. But unless the Utah offense starts playing to their potential,
it's going to be very hard for the rest of the team to carry the offense on it's back and expect to win the conference this year. After seeing TCU's run defense against CSU yesterday, Utah should be very afraid of what is to come. The Utes have got to play their complete game to beat the Frogs,Lowblows,
and Y this year. The Rams and Aztecs won't be cakewalks either.
Watch and Learn | 5:25 p.m. Oct. 12, 2008
college football neophytes.

With 8 of 11 common opponents, the SOS for BYU and Utah will be within 20 places of each other by the end of the season.

The only thing that really matters, however, is November 22nd and each team's overall record.

SOS is inconsequential, unless, BYU or Utah finishes ranked #1 or #2 in the Coaches and Harris polls.
MWC Fan | 11:49 p.m. Oct. 12, 2008
What's the deal with comparing Utah to BYU? The article was about Wyoming and Utah. Leave cougars...

It's true that the Utah offense didn't have an on night, but honestly... trust me... it is so difficult to play a team that cannot compete with you. Sure, the Utes should have been able to put up more offensive points against Wyoming, but like the article says.. it wasn't completely necessary. When you're up 27-0 at the half without signs of life from the other team, why would you turn on the fire anymore?

And from what happened last year... do you really think that Coach Whit was going to trounce on them after everyone whining about a practicing and on-side kick during the game? I don't blame Andy Ludwig for not hitting Brent Casteel on the long bomb with Wyoming's sucky secondary. Everyone would be in an uproar and claim the Utes were "running up the score again".

Okay okay... that doesn't give us an excuse to play less than our best at offense. But just leave it alone. A win by 33 points is amazing. Please, cougars. Do not respond to this. Go back to hailing Collie as "King"

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