Monday, January 05, 2009

And the winner is...

The University of Utah Utes. (13-0, 8-0 MWC)

There is no rational argument I have heard from anyone that makes a legitimate argument as to why the Utah Utes should not be the number one team in the country.

They are the only undefeated team in all of Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, and just beat the snot out of an Alabama team that was #1 going into the SEC Championship.

Florida, the team favored to win the BCS Championship game, only beat Alabama by 11. Utah beat 'em by 14.

I've heard the argument made that the Utes wouldn't be undefeated if they played Florida's schedule, but I don't buy it. Some people have talked about launching USC into the title picture, but they lost to an Oregon State team that the Utes beat. They beat TCU, BYU, and Alabama.

Oh, and lest you try to punish them for a weak schedule, remember that when they scheduled the Michigan opener, the Wolverines were a power.

Don't punish Utah for Michigan's demise.

They played the toughest schedule they could put together, and won every single game, including their BCS bowl. And the Utes are no flash in the pan, either. They've won 8 straightbowl games, including their first ever appeareance in the BCS, a 35-7 smackdown of the Pittsburgh Panthers.

Oh, and they went undefeated that season as well, but were left out of the national title picture.

If Utah is not voted the AP national title, it will simply serve as further proof that the current system is broken.

The Pac-10 isn't offering the Utes membership, so they can play a legitimate BCS schedule. They are scheduling the best that they can in their non-conference. And the Mountain West isn't exactly a pushover. Just ask Alabama, Michigan, Stanford, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, and Tennessee if they think the MWC is a joke (all of these teams lost to a MWC opponent this season).

All these Utes did was suit up and beat every opponent they faced. Again. This was the second time in the career of these seniors that they've achieved that particular feat. And they did so under two different head coaches.

None of the power teams - not LSU, USC, Ohio State, Florida, or Oklahoma - have even come close to achieving such an accomplishment.

If that isn't worthy of a national title, I don't know what is.