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Question for BCS: Why not us?

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PhillyCoug | 8:26 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I completely congratulate the Utes on their remarkable season, doing many things that many of us doubted they could. I also agree that they deserve a share of the crown (as much as I hate to admit it). However, I can only imagine the response from Ute fans about this article if things were the other way around, and BYU were the only undefeated team in the country.
Print the shirts!!! | 8:28 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Print the "National Champs" shirts now!!!

I want to buy a case!
Amen | 8:30 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Utah 2008 National Champions!
Comments continue below
AZ Dave | 8:32 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
What don't you understand. It's their party and their rules.
MWC Creampuffs | 8:32 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Utah was fortunate to finish its regular season without a loss, it took a few blunders from TCU. The MWC was overrated all season. Take out the U and TCU and there is no substance left in the MWC. TCU showed what they can do to Boise State, unfortunately they also showed how they would fare in the Big XII when they played OU.

Utah brought it's A game to the Sugar Bowl, but does not have a season worthy of a national title.
National Champs | 8:34 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Name me one other sport, anywhere in the entire world, where you can be the ONLY UNBEATEN TEAM in the sport, the ONLY team that does not lose one single game the entire season, and not be the champion. Not even have a chance to play for the championship.

It's ridicilous. Plain and simple.

It is a complete joke...

Sneaky Jimmy | 8:35 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
This writer has hit the nail on the head. NOW is the time for all football fans to unite. Tear down the BCS! Write your congress person, write the newspapers, post on message boards, take up the quest (BYU please get on board).

UTAH - NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Money and Corruption | 8:35 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
As the age of corruption and greed is flowering before our very eyes in other matters, the BCS fits right in, don't they. Money, money, money! That's really what this is all about. Utah played an incredible game (especially in the first quarter) and proved they were better than Alabama and just as good if not better than USC, Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma. What's there left to prove? The Utes were 13-0 and beat Alabama, a team that was #1 longer than anybody else this season. The rigged BCS machine has reared its ugly head in plain sight for all to see. I live in Illinois and am very disappointed in college football this year in regards to this matter.
National Champs | 8:39 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Go ahead and print the T-Shirts. In fact, USC and Texas can do the same thing. Even though the BCS and the media claim there is one, the reality is we don't have a national champion in College 1-A football. Never have.

Nearly every year there are at least a couple teams that have just as much right to call themselves number 1 as the winner of the "BCS Championship game".

As much as each team's fans want to say "we're number one", until it is proven on the field with a playoff, it is always open to debate.
UteGary | 8:48 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Don't just give "National Champs" t-shirts to the team. Make them available to the public. Most Utah fans and some BCS haters would love to buy one.
Look at the Schedules | 9:00 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Rather than casting a "protest vote," here is THE reason AP voters should vote Utah #1.

Take the final AP poll of the season and look at how Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, USC, and Utah played against the teams that ended up in the top 25.

Florida beat 2 such teams.
Oklahoma beat 5.
Texas beat 4.
USC beat 3.
Utah beat 4.

Of the 3 teams that played against the toughest competition, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah, only Utah finished without a loss.

If Oklahoma wins tonight it can argue that 6 wins against the ranked teams negates the loss to Texas and it should claim the championship, especially if it wins "big."

If Oklahoma loses it's an absolute no-brainer that Utah deserves the national championship because of its schedule and won/loss record, and not for any other reason. And, it can make the same claim even if Oklahoma wins -- because, as the Utah Coach has said, "we don't have to explain away a loss."

Either way, the figure-skating analogy holds and "the system" has got to be fixed.

BTW, Urban Meyer's teams are very tough when they have a month or more to prepare for a game.

To: MWC Creampuffs | 9:07 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
How uninformed can you get!? Your argument has the depth of a MAD Magazine article. "Take out Utah and TCU and there is no substance left in the MWC." Take out OSU and Penn State and the Big 10 becomes the little 8. Take out USC and the PAC 10 is no better than C-USA. There is no one to take out of the Big East or the ACC, they just plain stink! The MWC was the 3rd best conference this year by any ranking system. Our best teams beat their best teams, and our worst teams best their mediocre teams (UNLV over Ariz. St.; WY over TN; NM over AZ).

I can also point you to 4 or 5 ESPN articles that compare Utah's season to the rest of the "contenders" and clearly proclaim the Utes as having the best resume for a championship (victories over 4 ranked teams and 6 bowl teams, 3rd toughest conference, undefeated, beat the previously #1 team in the sugar bowl, etc.)

Get your facts straight...
Do it Hill!!! | 9:07 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
No where does the words "NCAA National Champs" appear in the BCS title game. It's "BCS (tm) National Champion." Print the shirts and call it "2008 Utah Utes - National Football Champion (tm) among all FCS Colleges."
Ross | 9:09 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Stop whining. The BCS was set up to determine its champion from its own conferences. Whining about not being given consideration when you are not from a BCS conference is inane. The non-bcs conferences need to organize just as the BCS ones did and prove that they are just as good in generating money as the BCS ones have. This may lead to some agreement where all teams who compete can have a shot at the title, until then, get to work organizing and stop whining.
RE: AZ Dave | 9:12 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
"What don't you understand. It's their party and their rules."

No, it is the NCAA's game, and they have outsourced it (or allowed it to be highjacked) by 6 "BCS" conferences. It would be like the NFC deciding that they had the best teams, so they were going to abandon the rest of the NFL after the regular season ended, vote on their two favorites (the two teams from the biggest markets), and let them play in a game called the "National Championship."

Neither the NFL nor the fans would stand for it. Why should the NCAA or we? It's time to take this sport back from those that have usurped it.
I'm Happy for the Utes | 9:15 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Champions in their own minds.

They have never cared what the facts are.

They have been the best team in the world for the past 10 years.

Forget about the 13-10 win over a 4-8 UNM.

That's what the best team in the country does.

Beat a 4-8 team by a field goal.

Best teams ever, in their own minds.
time for change | 9:17 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
It needs to change. When the BYU alum lawyer was pushing for an anti-trust suit against the BCS, Ute fans were all over the bashing about BYU not deserving it. Now that they're wise enough to see they too are not allowed, they are holding up the banner. It is time for all the have-nots to stop fighting amongst themselves and go after the real enemies to equality.
Re: MWC Creampuffs | 9:19 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Get serious...

Pull Penn St and Ohio St out of the Big 10 and what do you have left?

Pull VT out of the ACC and you have the sunbelt.

Pull USC out of the Pac-10 and you have the ACC.

Pull Florida and Alabama out of the SEC and you have the Big East.

I would have ranked the MWC as the third toughest conference this year after the Big 12 and SEC.
Cougar Blue | 9:17 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I will not recognize Oklahoma or Florida (especially Florida) as the National Champions. They don't deserve it, they both lost at home. You can't do that and be champions. It hurts to say this, but the Utes are the National Champions. If it means getting a playoff system installed, send me a T-Shirt and I'll wear it on BYU campus.

Here is another idea. I say the smaller conferences get together and create their own playoff system. They should shun any BCS invites and allow the larger conferences to play in the tournament as well. I for one would only recognize the winner of the playoff as the true champion. If the big schools are too scared to play in the tournament, then they don't deserve a NC. Plus if you get just a few of the BCS conferences to commit, then the BCS would be "Busted". I'm sure USC would jump at the chance right now along with Texas.
Mike M. | 9:22 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I'm telling you the best way to end the BCS is not to take part in it. Non BCS teams need to turn down BCS bowls when given the chance to prove a point. We as fans need to not purchase any merchandise from BCS teams. We shouldn't watch their games on ESPN or CBS or ABC or NBC and we shouldn't cower in the shadows just because of our zip code!!! The biggest thing to the BCS is money, not love of the game, or pure football drama, it is money. So, in order to get rid of it, we have to hit them where it counts. Their wallets.
Number 1 | 9:27 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
First off, as much as I feel that Utah deserves a chance to play the WINNER of the "National Championship Game", everyone knew the scenario. The winner of the BCS Championship is #1. Nothing has changed sinced the BCS was created. 2004 Utah was undefeated, no Championship. 2006 Boise State undefeated and beat one of the "Powerhouse" schools of college football, Auburn, etc. Yet, the BCS has changed nothing. I am one of the biggest supporters of doing a 16 team playoff. I have always felt that if you have no losses you deserve the opportunity to play for the championship, no matter what conference you are from.
Second, as much as I would love to see Utah as National Champions, I have no desire to see my tax dollars be used so that Mark Shurtleff can file an Anti-trust lawsuit against the BCS. NCAA, etc. I think we have bigger worries facing us right now that we shouldn't be wasting money on something as trivial as this. Utah is looking for places to cut budget, maybe we should cut how much the Attorney General's office is receiving if this is where he wants to spend it.
MADRYBEG | 9:26 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Re: National Champs

You said it perfectly. Until teams play it out on the field there will always be debate about who is #1.

In my eyes the debate is simple...Utah is #1 or should be given a piece of the pie. Utah beat 4 Top 25 teams, including the team who was #1 for 5 weeks in 2008. Was Utah the benefactor of luck? This depends on your poit of view. I have watched the Jazz from the time I was a 4th grader. There have been many times the Jazz have not capitalized on mistakes and lost games. If they would have I could say my favortie NBA team is the NBA champ. Malone was stripped of the ball by Jordan and calmly drove a dagger in the Jazz and Jazz faithful. I guess he was just lucky, too? Weak argument to say the Utes were only undefeated because they were lucky. They caught some amazing breaks, BUT THEY MADE THE MOST OF THOSE BREAKS, TOO! Utah found a way to win when it counted and that is a true mark of a Champion.

UTAH #1 if you won't let them play, then make them share the title!
re:MWC Creampuffs | 9:24 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Get real. Even as a hardened fan from another conference I can see that that the MWC conference is as good from top to bottom as the majority of the "BCS" conferences. The Pac10, Big East, Big 10, and ACC all have some serious credibility issues when we're talking about dominance. And shut-up about the WAC too. The MWC beat the WAC by a combined 5 points in 2 games that could have gone either way. Yeah, we saw what TCU could do to BSU--they beat them by one point. A one point loss to a ranked team would put some teams into the national championship in this stupid system. Either we need a playoff, or we need to quit crowning a "national champion".
Print the Nat Champs T-shirts | 9:29 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I buy a bunch, from the DI in a month when people realize that anyone can make a t-shirt, doesn't make it true.
HSFAN | 9:39 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I am a Utah and I can tell you that if BYU were in Utah's shoes today.....my feelings would not change a bit!

Its time to come together collectively both as Utahns and fans of competitive sport and push the BCS collective out the door on its collective ear!

The BCS does not work......Utah is the National Champs, and fans from Okla and Florida know it!

Congrats Utes....You are Perfect!
Recruiting | 9:55 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Re: MWC Creampuffs

You are also forgetting the recruiting discrepancies that arrive from athletes knowing that they have no chance at a national title. If every team had the same opportunity for winning the NC, I am sure that some of these blue chip recruits would choose to play for these so-called "mid-majors", thereby evening out the available talent pool. I just wish we could do something about the salaries some of these coaches are making. Its outrageous. This is COLLEGE football. Amateur athletes. Come on!

P.S. Send me one of those shirts, too. (even though I don't really like the Utes, they are my champion pick this year!)
Ironic | 10:00 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Isn't it ironic that BYU won a national championship by beating 6-5 Michigan; and Utah can't win a national championship by beating a 12-1 Alabama and going undefeated?
UTE Fan in MS | 10:10 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
To MWC Creampuffs: Get your wife or your daughter to explain this whole BCS and for that matter College Football thing to you. Apparently you haven't a clue about either. Oh, and by the way, how can you call the MWC creampuffs, when the second worse team in the MWC (Wyoming) beat Tennessee, who ended up middle of the SEC. Like the others said, get your facts straight, and go ask your wife to explain the rest to you.
undefeated? | 10:28 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Going undefeated is quite a feat, but what does a win mean anyway? A win means that the winner was the best team that day under those circumstances. I don't think going undefeated is the most important indicator of the best overall team for the season.

That's why we need a tournament to play it on the field. Since there is no tournament, we have to judge by something. The national champ should be either OK or Texas, assuming OK wins tonight. OK has creamed every opponent (60+ points in last 5 games). Even though Utah scraped out a perfect season, OK has proved that it is the best overall team throughout the year. If not them, then Texas. Let's get real.
TrueCoug | 10:29 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Ditto, ditto and ditto to the writer of this article! The Utes should be the National Champions! Let the BCS have their own club thingy and crown their own champion, but the NCAA should have its own champion - the UTES! C'mon AP writers do the right thing - crown the Utes. Print the shirts Hill. Print Baby Print!

Reality | 10:35 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Until the Utes, Cougars, Horned Frogs, etc. play a schedule that has quality opponents nearly every week they will not get the recognition no matter how many big bowl games the win.

I. E. Get out of the Mountain West Conference

Idea: Somehow put all of the collegiate schools in a BCS conference.
Utes # 1 | 10:48 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Lets make t-shirts that say "BJ Heisman", and "Kyle, best coach ever", and BYU, "Worst Team Every Year Ever", and "Ute Basketball, NCAA Champs".

Sure we would look stupid, but only because stupid is as stupid does.
re: Ironic | 10:50 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
The reason Utah won't win the NC this year is the same reason BYU was stuck playing Michigan 6-5 in the Holiday Bowl to win the Cougar's NC... $$$

#4 Washington and #5 Nebraska were both invited to play #1 BYU in the Holiday Bowl. Washington rejected the invitation in favor of playing #2 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. Nebraska chose to play #11 LSU in the Sugar Bowl.

The BcS wasn't created to decide a true NC; the BcS was created to keep all of the money in the six BcS conferences. They only threw the non-BCS schools a bone to prevent a lawsuit or congress from breaking up their little monopoly. They aren't about to open the door for a non-BCS team to win a championship.

That would expose the whole BcS selection process by showing that non-BCS teams can compete with the "big boys", thus, making it harder for the BcS to keep a second or even a third non-BCS team out of the BCS bowls -- see Boise State and TCU this year.
BYU fan | 10:53 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I am a die hard BYU fan. I have some friends that are UTE fans, they are not BYU haters. There IS a difference. You know the casual fan who only cares in basketball when they play BYU, and had to dust off his 'U' gear from 2004 that he had in the closet the last 3 years.
I think there are now UTE haters mixed in with the Y fans. Strange to see it, but they are out there.
I would never root for the U and never will. I rooted for Alabama just to shut the fans up.

All that being said. The Utes deserve the National Championship. Deal with it. It the roles were reversed EVERY BYU fan would be on here going crazy saying they deserved it. They may not be the best team, BYU may not have been in 84. The only difference is BYU was the only unbeaten going into the bowls and was already #1. The BCS was designed to correct that from ever happening.
re: Reality | 11:04 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
unless the Utes, Cougars, and Horned Frogs become Gators, Longhorns, and Sooners they will NEVER get the same recognition as teams in the East, Southeast and Midwest.

There is, and always will be, an East Coast bias in the media. Even teams in the Pac 10 struggle, to a lesser degree than the MWC and WAC, with that bias.

The ONLY way of creating a level playing field for the NC is with a playoff that includes EVERY conference champion.

Moving to BCS conference is a pipe dream.

If the BCS conferences won't include non-BCS teams as automatic qualifiers, they certainly aren't going to invite non-BCS teams to join their conferences.

It's ALL about the $$$.

Anyone who tries to argue otherwise is either naive or a liar.
UteFire | 11:15 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
UTAH UTES are the National Champions along with the Sugar Bowl and MWC Conference Champs.

The BCS game tonight will crown the BCS championship game champs...nothing more.

I agree with this article 100%. It is time for the powers in the whole NCAA football nation to combine and solve this problem now and set up a true system to crown a national football champ. I Hope the 72 voters in the AP poll have the cajones to step up and vote Utah the champs. After that I will be buying a sweatshirt with the fact printed on it-"Utes 2008 National Champs".

Also being a major Ute fan - I WOULD still support BYU and/or BSU if they had accomplished What Utah did this year.
McKay | 11:12 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
I agree with the article but voting Utah #1 in the AP won't change anything. Does anybody remember what happened in 2003? Oklahoma was the overhyped team all year and was way ahead of everybody in the BC$ polls, they then went out and lost to Kansas State in the Big12 title game by the score of 35 - 7, yet they still got to go to the BCS title game over a one loss USC team... where they lost to LSU. LSU was given the BCS championship but the AP voted USC number one. So it has happened before, but what did it change? Nothing!!
hoofhearted | 11:16 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
the only logical thing to do is crown utah the unifed and undisputed national champion! why? well get ready...

utah beat alabama which beat old miss which beat texas tech (and florida) which beat texas which beat oklahoma which beat tcu which beat boise st which beat oregon which beat oregon st which beat usc which beat california which beat miami which beat
virginia tech which beat nebraska which beat colorado which beat west virgina which beat rutgers which beat north carolina which beat georgia tech which beat georgia which beat mich st which beat iowa which beat penn st which beat syracuse which beat norte dame which beat navy which beat wake which beat clemson which beat bc which beat florida st
Blue fan happy for red fans | 11:22 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Without a playoff system, the old bowl system really doesn't look bad in light of the negative aspects of the BCS monopoly. At least the recruiting disadvantages wouldn't be as severe.

The NCAA has failed us.
Lipstick on a pig | 11:44 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Under the old system, at least everyone knew that the national championship was decided in opinion polls that sometimes didn't agree with each, hence, the split national championships.

It was still a beauty contest, but at least everyone knew that it was a pig.

Then the BCS came along and tried to disguise the pig as the legitimate, one and only, undisputed national champion. Some people with vested interests even tried to convince us that it really wasn't just a pig with lipstick.

Now the fraud has been completely exposed as the beauty contest that it has always been, but, with a twist. Teams that aren't members of the exclusive "beautiful" conferences need not apply. The best that MWC, WAC, Sun Belt, MAC and C-USA teams can ever hope for is to win Miss Congeniality.

At least the queen gets to wear lipstick now.

I wonder what a Gator or a Sooner would look like in pumps and a tiara?
Re: MWC Creampuffs | 11:47 a.m. Jan. 8, 2009

Your comments show you don't know squat.

13-0 and defeated 4 top-25 AP teams, 3 top-16 BCS teams, #4 Alabama (ranked as #1 for the longest duration during the season), 6 bowl teams and plays in a conference that has 3 top-16 BCS ranked teams.

Excellent teams find enough energy to win in all games. Utah does not have to come up with an excuse for their one-loss unlike Texas, USC, FL/OK winner.

SoCalUtahFan
Texas Blue | 12:00 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Living in Texas (after living in SLC) you realize that the BCS is about money and the BCS conferences cover the football money centers. You will not coax BCS schools out of the BCS for pride. The dollars will continue to rule.
Utah deserves to be NC, but the BCS will always have the money.
Pac 10 | 12:00 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
5-1 in bowls games
Hey CREAMPUFFS wake up | 12:21 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
No point letting strongly held prejudices stand in the way of the truth. The final Top 16 BCS rankings has 3 MWC teams (#6 UT, # 11 TCU and # 16 BYU). The great PAC 10 has 1 (#5 USC). Other 1 team conferences include: the WAC (Boise), The LITTLE East (Cincy), ACC aka Absense of Competition Conf.(GA Tech). The so called BIG 10 had 2 teams (OH State and PA State). The SEC tid manage to TIE the MWC w/ 3 teams in the TOP 16. There was ONR conference w/ more teams in the Top 16 the Big 12 w/ 4 teams. So DON'T talk about creampuffs. Your expressing prejuduces and not facts.
re: Pac 10 | 12:19 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
"5-1 in bowls games"

5-0 in bowls; the Pac 10 didn't even have 6 bowl eligible teams this season

6-2 vs the MWC

and your conference champ, LOST to a team that the MWC champ beat

any argument that USC deserves the NC more than Utah because the Pac 10 was a "stronger" conference this year is ridiculous
MWC vs Pac 10 | 12:27 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
the MWC was 6-2 vs the Pac 10
re: Re: MWC Creampuffs | 12:32 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
Kyle said at the beginning of the season, going into the "Big House" that "one loss does not make or break a season". Wow, cough, cough.

Now it's "We don't have to explain our one loss".

"Utah does not have to come up with an excuse for their one-loss unlike Texas, USC, FL/OK winner."

So, it's doubletalk spin, depending on the situation. I would like Kyle to repaeat in an interview discussing one loss teams how "one loss does not make or break a season".

Either he didn't mean it when he said it then, or he doesn't mean what he is saying now.

Which is it Kyle? Which statement you made is the truth, and which one isn't?
must be a newbie | 12:42 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
"The BCS system has essentially turned the college bowl system from one of the best times for the sport into a confusing stretch of games that no longer hold any magic."

Uh, hey buddy I hate to break the bad news to ya but it's been like this for decades, even before the Bowl Coalition/Bowl Alliance/BCS.

Have we never witnessed a bunch of crying and complaining over which team should have been awarded the NC before the BCS came into being? Why yes I believe we have. I believe everyone has except for maybe the writer of this article.
Matthew | 12:48 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
A win is a win and a loss is a loss. Utah is 13-0, the next best is only close.
Superman for President, too | 12:49 p.m. Jan. 8, 2009
"Well, here's a way to extend a special invitation to teams like Utah, and give them their own secret handshake. It's up to the AP voters to show some justifiable defiance by having all 72 members cast their votes in Friday's final poll for 13-0 Utah, the only undefeated team in the country."

Good luck, Paco. The AP votes don't even mean anything anymore. The NC trophy and official recognition of being #1 is going to the winner of tonight's game between OK and FL.

(*snicker*)

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