Comments about ‘TCU excited to be No. 2, Utes fall to No. 23’

From Top 5 to unranked in the AP Final Top 25.

Utah's bid for 3 straight Top 25 finishes ends at 2.

@Swoop
From Vegas to New Mexico.

BYU's bid for 6h straight Vegas Bowl ends at 5.

Disappointing year but then again we could be like the TDS.

Utes at #23 are seriously overrated. That offense they displayed against Boise St was one of the worst college offenses I've ever seen.

Did any other team fall further and faster at the end of the season than the Utes?

I could swear Coach Whitt said something like, "We're not worried or concerned about our number five ranking. It's out of our control. Talk to me at the end of the season and see where we are at."

(Yes, I know all about BYU's 7-6 season; but I think the Y's and U's upward and downward trajectories, respectively, met somewhere during the fourth quarter of the Vegas Bowl)

Successful season, but the direction at the end of the season shows signs that we have work to do and roles to fill to repeat this success in this Pac-12. It's going to be fun, but challenging against a tough schedule next year. Optimistic.

Go Utes.

Nice cherry-picking, Swoop. I suppose you haven't been calling the Y a top ten basketball team this week because one of the two polls ranks them at eleven vs. ten.

Just goes to show that if you load your season with lesser opponents, you too can have a top 25 season. Had the utes played a better schedule, it would be a different story. The pollsters should take into consideration that the utes only one one game because of bad officiating. Now off to the Pac-12 and mediocrity.

Congrats. nat'l champions TCU-13-0. As for polls, I have always thought atheletics was about the play on the field not the opinions from the bleachers.

put it in perspective,
Utah lost to the number 2 and number 9 teams in the country. Those aren't bad losses and really shouldn't penalize the utes in the ranking (although they clearly did). That is a complete doouble standard as teams like Mississippi state don't get penalized for losses to teams even ranked below them because they are part of the SEC.

The Utes' only bad loss came at ND, who showed in their bowl game and last couple games of the season that they are a much better team than they were the first half the season.

Utes really shouldn't have dropped out of the top 25, but it is what it is. (I don't give any credence to the coaches' poll because of the enormous conflict of interest inherent in that poll.

It is too bad that ESPN doesn't show the final computer rankings. The utes are in the top 25 in all of them, so they would have ended up around number 20 in the final BCS ranking.

@Chris B:

Hey, we finally found you. Did you hear anything about the basketball game last night??

Very interesting to observe the level of swagger in the Ute fans when they finally got to the point in their schedule that Utah played a few quality teams. It was easy beating your chests with victories over San Jose State and New Mexico, huh? And don't be too excited about the #23 ranking--it's at once undeserved and meaningless, which pretty much says it all about the Ute's season. Maybe next year you can slow the downward spiral as rookies in the PAC-12. I'm sure you will be proud with a victory over Washington State, if you play them.

A bit surprised Utah stayed ranked, but glad they did. I guess not everyone was as down on them as we fans were Good season, not a great one, but, hopefully Wynn get's back healthy and the coaches get the offensive kinks worked out.

Go Utes

To Big Al, Pipes, JayDee, FrozenChosen, and Swoop:

Please list for me the quality teams that BYU beat. I will wait.

It makes me laugh. Utah was "overrated" when they were beating the cupcakes on their schedule. When BYU beats the same cupcakes, and only beats one fairly good team at home, they are "building momentum" Love it!

Anyway, Congrats to Coach Whitt. When you look at the body of work, Utah absolutely deserves their ranking (oddly enough, the BCS had them WAY too high IMO, I would put them about 23, or 24). Three years in a row ranked is a great feat for the UTes and it will only get better from here!

@JayDee
"Did any other team fall further and faster at the end of the season than the Utes?"

Yes, your BYU team in 2001 dropped from #9 (12-0) to #25 (12-2) in over two games.

The 2008 team is still the best mid-major team under the current system:

#2 2010 TCU (3 first place votes)
vs.
#2 2008 Utah (16 first place votes)

BYU has never had a 10+ win team that didn't finish in the Top 25 in both polls - 15 for 15.

The Cougars have had four three-year streaks of Top 25 finishes, including a four-year streak that ended last year.

Utah, with two BCS wins in the heyday of their football program, still only managed a two-year streak.

Lifetime AP Top 25 finishes
BYU 17
Utah 5

btw, the AP poll is the poll that ranked Utah #4 and #2 in 2004 and 2008 -- in other words, the poll that Utah fans have always considered more accurate.

Very generous for Utah after the way they finished out. Utah won 10 games and the Ute fans who have a grip on reality that I know are not optimistic about next year. BYU barely had a winning season but the Y fans I know are very optimistic about next year. Utah has too many question marks going into next year. BYU has alot of great players coming back. I wish them both the best but I am betting BYU wins 10+ and utah is down to 6-8 wins next year.

Congrats to the Utes on a good season (any time you finish in the top 25, its reason for some celebration). I hope you rough up the PAC-12 next year.

Right now, I'm just enjoying basketball season.

TCU is still arguably the best team in the country.

The Utes at #23 have ended up about 10 higher than what they deserve.

For Utah to finish even that high next year, they better hope that the PAC-12 put at least four or five teams in the top 25 by the end of 2011.

That will be the case every year from now on for the Utes.

So much for NC 2010 as was predicted by local fans.

Of course the biggest difference next year is the fact that BYU will have a cupcake schedule and the Utes will play a Pac 10 schedule. I know BYU has some big games to start the season so we will see how the schedules match up again. It will interesting to see how fans will spin this all next year. Experience tells us that we all have short memories....