Congratulations To The National Champions..utah Utes.

[CMJ]

I don't look for Texas to lose to a very average looking Ohio State.

Were looking for Utah to win? Maybe 10% of the country according to online polls did. I actually did think they had a shot, but I figured they'd lose a close game(which is still alot of credit compared to Barry "open mouth, insert foot" Switzer).

If Ohio State does win, the superirotiy if the Big XII South will have been shown to be an absolute joke.

[GoMeanGreen1999]

Were looking for Utah to win? Maybe 10% of the country according to online polls did. I actually did think they had a shot, but I figured they'd lose a close game(which is still alot of credit compared to Barry "open mouth, insert foot" Switzer).

If Ohio State does win, the superirotiy if the Big XII South will have been shown to be an absolute joke.

I thought going in that last nights game had the best potential to be the best BCS game because of the two story lines. Utah undefeated playing to go 13-0 and Bama with the huge letdown of not only losing their chance at a NC game, but also the SEC title, haveing to muster the energy to go play an upstart Utah team. That being said, I did not think the undersized Utah defensive line would be able to manhandle the very good offensive line of bama. Hats off to Utah's coaching staff for putting them in a place to win that game and go undefeated. That being said, I don't believe they would have been undefeated playing in the SEC or Big 12. Like RETSO said above, it is not easy going from week to week as opposed to a month to prepare. Yes they had some good wins, but they didn't have to play that consist tough team or tough place to play, week after week.

I think the Big 12 South teams especially, defensively is being exposed. I think UT has the best matchup out of them all. I do wonder if OU will be able to score as easily on a Florida defense.

[CMJ]

Hell, if Utah was in another league they might not have to go undefeated to play for a National title(see Oklahoma and Florida).

BTW, if the MWC keeps this up, they very well could get a automatic qualifyer spot.

The MWC is 6-2 against the Pac-10. 2-0 against the SEC.

The MWC has the best winning percentage of any conference but the ACC against BCS AQ out of conference opponents.

Three MWC teams are ranked in the top 25.

Two MWC teams will finish in the top ten.

The MWC champion goes undefeated and beats the SEC runner-up(who was #1 in the country for a full month)

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

---There needs to be a playoff system. Maybe eight teams in the beginning with at minimum of six confeneces involved and no more than two for any conference. [ if you can't finish in top two of your confernce, you don't need to be included ] First round could be before Christmas also after finals, one after Christmas, and the final one after New Years. If this works well then maybe expand to 16 teams. This adds one game to 4 teams and 2 to the finalists. That is better than practicing all December for a game a month after their last game..just ask the coaches and players... they want to end it all. .

---The bowl system is a mess now... 64 teams...crazy...and some of them occur SIX weeks after their final regular season game. (Ohio State).

---Bowls games could still exist..just not include playoff teams. very few of the bowls now have any effect on the top 5-10 teams anyway.. they are just a reward for a good season (as they all once were) and gives fans somewhere to go around New Years.

Congratulations to the Utes.... likely they would have lost a game or two in the Big XII or SEC but you never know... we need a playoff system.

[ADLER]

Second National title in 4 years.

Utah is the legitimate National Champion. Florida is going to play Oklahoma for second place honors in the Bowl Consolation Series Championship.

I love how morons whine "but if Utah played in this BCS conference or that BCS conference".

Utah is undefeated, beat top ten ranked TCU, beat ranked Oregon State after OSU thumped USC, beat a then highly ranked BYU, just beat the BCS member that was ranked number 1 much of this season.

Oh, and Utah plays legitimate contenders, even on the road, during non-conference play. You can't say that about any of the cowardly BCS schools that are claiming they have a claim at the national title.

Utah Utes, 2008 National Champions.

[GreenMachine]

Congrats to their season, but put them in the SEC, Big 12 or Pac 10 and they don't go undefeated.

give them BSC bowl money like SEC, Big 12, or Pac 10 get so we have an even playing field, then we can start this discussion.

[ADLER]

give them BSC bowl money like SEC, Big 12, or Pac 10 get so we have an even playing field, then we can start this discussion.

True, if being in a non-BCS conference is such a distinct advantage, why aren't any of the BCS schools willing to switch?

What worse, being the cowards, or being the bootlickers that worship the cowards? Oklahoma only played one non-conference road game, against Washington, Florida didn't play a single non-conference road game. F'ing cowards, both of them, and neither school deserves any rewards, well, other than that crystal consolation trophy.

Utah Utes, 2008 National Champions by every person that understands sports.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Regardless of what anyone thinks Utah might have done in a different situation, all we can look it is what they did do in their situation. What was Florida's claim to play in the national championship game? They beat Alabama. So did Utah. Utah beat some quality opponents, including a Top 10 TCU team. They beat Oregon St., something that USC, probably the most talented team in the country, failed to do. Sure, they played some patsies in their schedule, something that every other team under consideration for the national title did. But they did something that no one else did. They went 13-0.

Utah should rightfully be the national champions--anything else is a sham.

[MDH]

Add Boise, Nevada, and Fresno and you've got a legitimate 12 team BCS conference. If there were a way to kick Wyoming back to the WAC I'd say do it but that would be hard! Something like this....the north is a little stacked but it's hard to break up BYU, Utah, and Boise because of their close proximity.

North

Boise St

BYU

Utah

Wyoming

Colorado St

Nevada

South

TCU

Fresno St

Air Force

New Mexico

San Diego St

UNLV

Edited January 3, 2009 by mdh0192

[emmitt01]

They are a nice team, but would not be able to run the gaunlet that was the Big 12 South this year.

The Big XII was a gauntlet? Why? Because they played eachother...who did they play outside of eachother to prove that they were such a group of juggernauts?

OU stepped out of conference and played:

UT-Chattanooga

TCU

Cincinnati

Washington

If you want to say they have a claim to respectability then I'll agree.

UT (You know, the team that whined they deserve a national title shot) played:

Florida Atlantic

Arkansas (powerful 5-7 team who beat ULM by 1 point and Western Illinois by 4)

UTEP

Rice

And, again, if you wanted to play for the national title so bad you only had to do one thing...win all your games. You didn't.

Texas Tech played:

Eastern Washington

Nevada

SMU

UMass

Man, murderers row

So in order to say that any of the above teams played a "gauntlet" schedule we have to assume that every Big XII south team is great...and why do we assume this? Oh yeah, because the NCAA rankings that come out before a single game is played put them up near the top so that as they played and beat eachother they would climb in the rankings.

What if Utah played in the Big East? That's a "BCS" conference and I'd take the Utes over every team that plays there.

How many teams this season had more points on the scoreboard when time expired than the other team..every single week...1. Would Utah have found a way to win week in and week out in the SEC? I don't know, and neither does anyone because they don't play in the SEC. What we DO know is that when they were given the chance to line up against an SEC school, one whose only loss was to a "national title" game participant, they led them from wire to wire and were never really threatened. Never really threatened by a team that went into LSU's stadium and won. Never threatened by a team that handled Clemson and Georgia at their houses. Never threatened by a team that crushed Auburn by 38, beat Tennessee by 20 at Tennessee.

And this "they had weeks to prepare" garbage is just that...garbage. Was Alabama not allowed on the practice field? Did they tell Alabama that John Parker Wilson wasn't allowed to start? I'm looking for how this was a distinct advantage. Let me guess, because they were excited to be there and Alabama was still upset about losing the SEC title game? That would be relevant if the game were two drives long...Bama punts, Utah scores and they secure the upset. It's not though, is it? Nope. After Utah punched them in the mouth and went up 7-0 their defense them punched them in the mouth again and they went up 14-0. For four quarters, 60 minutes, Alabama had the chance to nut up and prove their "BCS dominance." For four quarters they had the chance to realize they were being outplayed by an "inferior" opponent, that they were failing to prove how powerful the almighty SEC is. They had 60 minutes to say "enough is enough" and start to put it on the lil' ol' team from the MWC. They didn't. They couldn't. Because the better team kept spanking their ass. On a neutral field.

Finally, let me ask all of you BCS conference bootlickers this. If you took the roster of the Tennessee Titans and put them in TCU uniforms, then had them play TCU's schedule...so basically they would destroy every team on their schedule outside of Oklahoma who they would simply beat convincingly....where would you rank them at the end of the year? Would you put them in the "non BCS" consolation BCS bowl and then say they hadn't played enough tough teams? Would you really say the most talented team in the country, by a long shot, is unworthy of the national title?

Edited January 3, 2009 by emmitt01

[mad dog]

If you took the roster of the Tennessee Titans and put them in TCU uniforms, then had them play TCU's schedule...so basically they would destroy every team on their schedule outside of Oklahoma who they would simply beat convincingly....where would you rank them at the end of the year?

They would get a nice pat on the head while all "big" schools run off with the media and money.

[Monkeypox]

How about we take the Tennessee Titans and make them play in the NFL? And then we'll take the Cleveland Browns and make them play against my nephews pee-wee league.

Your new National Champion Cleveland Browns?

What I'm hearing is: "The BIG BCS schools get all the money and media attention. However, none of that media and money make them better at football. And we refuse to recognize the championship system in place."

Which begs the question: "What exactly are you whining about, if you don't think the money and media makes them better at football and you don't recognize their championship?"

[UNT90]

If you took the roster of the Tennessee Titans and put them in TCU uniforms, then had them play TCU's schedule...so basically they would destroy every team on their schedule outside of Oklahoma who they would simply beat convincingly....where would you rank them at the end of the year? Would you put them in the "non BCS" consolation BCS bowl and then say they hadn't played enough tough teams? Would you really say the most talented team in the country, by a long shot, is unworthy of the national title?

If TCU had done this, they would be playing in the title game, but they didn't. Oklahoma wiped the floor with them, and they pissed away a win at Utah . I know everyone hates the BCS, but this argument is as pointless as the black coach thing. We will never know because they will never play. Those who hate the BCS will say that Utah played a tough schedule and should be rewarded with a shot at the National title, and those that defend the BCS will say that they play in a below average conference (compared to the big boys) and can't compete with the heavyweights in the BCS.

And meanwhile the members of the BCS just chuckle and count their money, because this argument is one of the reasons there will never be a playoff in college football. People love a good controversy.

Edited January 3, 2009 by UNT90

[RETSO]

Utah Utes, 2008 National Champions.

and North Texas will win more than 3 games next year....keep dreaming

[emmitt01]

How about we take the Tennessee Titans and make them play in the NFL? And then we'll take the Cleveland Browns and make them play against my nephews pee-wee league.

Your new National Champion Cleveland Browns?

Sure. If you can somehow convince the powers that be that the winner of your nephew's pee wee league is the national champion. Otherwise your attempt at hyperbole falls flat on its face.

[emmitt01]

If TCU had done this, they would be playing in the title game, but they didn't.

Wrong. Utah played a tougher schedule and still is getting the "they don't play in a BCS league" crap.

And nobody has answered my question about how Utah would be viewed if "Big East" were on their uniform patch.

[Monkeypox]

Sure. If you can somehow convince the powers that be that the winner of your nephew's pee wee league is the national champion. Otherwise your attempt at hyperbole falls flat on its face.

Isn't that your job? But why convince anyone? I think I'd rather just point to their undefeated record and whine about it on a message board while continuing to funnel money to the "powers that be."

[Monkeypox]

And nobody has answered my question about how Utah would be viewed if "Big East" were on their uniform patch.

Oh, the Big East is definitely a bigger joke than the MWC.

[UNTFan23]

Oh, the Big East is definitely a bigger joke than the MWC.

Doesn't change the fact that the Big East is an auto-qualifier and the Mountain West ... isn't.

[TIgreen01]

This thread is dumb....and is dumb every single year that it gets posted.

There is no national champion for NCAA FBS college football. Never has been. There are only polls.

Carry on.

[Green P1]

And nobody has answered my question about how Utah would be viewed if "Big East" were on their uniform patch.

I'd view them as one of those crummy teams from the Big Least.

[Superfrog]

Congrats to their season, but put them in the SEC, Big 12 or Pac 10 and they don't go undefeated.

neither does Florida, OU, Texas or USC

[Superfrog]

I'd view them as one of those crummy teams from the Big Least.

But better than the #2 SEC team?

[emmitt01]

Isn't that your job? But why convince anyone? I think I'd rather just point to their undefeated record and whine about it on a message board while continuing to funnel money to the "powers that be."

Congratulations! You have entirely missed my point. Let me spell it out a different way.

If I took the teams in the Sun Belt and told them all at the beginning of this season that their out of conference schedule had to consist of any combination of the following teams:

OU

UT

VaTech (ACC Champion)

Cincinnati (Big East Champion)

Alabama

Florida

USC

Every team in the Belt goes undefeated out of conference. Then throughout the season the Sun Belt teams beat eachother up (the same thing that teams in the Big XII and SEC do) but North Texas managed to run the table and end up undefeated.

At season's end voters (and some of you BCS bootlickers on this board) would insist that North Texas didn't play in a tough enough conference and we'd go to the Orange Bowl for a chance to end the season ranked #4 or so.

[UNT_playmaker]

Congratulations! You have entirely missed my point. Let me spell it out a different way.

If I took the teams in the Sun Belt and told them all at the beginning of this season that their out of conference schedule had to consist of any combination of the following teams:

OU

UT

VaTech (ACC Champion)

Cincinnati (Big East Champion)

Alabama

Florida

USC

Every team in the Belt goes undefeated out of conference. Then throughout the season the Sun Belt teams beat eachother up (the same thing that teams in the Big XII and SEC do) but North Texas managed to run the table and end up undefeated.

At season's end voters (and some of you BCS bootlickers on this board) would insist that North Texas didn't play in a tough enough conference and we'd go to the Orange Bowl for a chance to end the season ranked #4 or so.

I agree with you... NT or any similiar school should be rewarded for their success.