Perfection did not yield a national championship for Utah. It did, however, produce unprecedented national respect.
After the Utah football team dominated the Alabama Crimson Tide in a football game that few gave Utah a chance in, the overwhelming support to crown Utah the national champions8212;despite what happened in the Bowl Championship Series title game between Florida and Oklahoma8212;came from all corners of the country. In the end, 16 voters in The Associated Press poll felt Utah had done enough to be named national champions, making Utah the first team from a non-traditional power conference to get No. 1 votes in the final AP writers poll since BYU finished No. 1 in 1984. The 16 votes were only good enough to put Utah at No. 2 in the final poll, but for Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham and his players, it’s a start.
“(We’ve) already felt the effects it will have on the long term,” said Whittingham of his team’s season. “Sixteen first-place votes, we’re looking at this season as a positive, but there is a bit of disappointment.”
The disappointment is that the Utes feel like they were better than their No. 2 ranking, but just didn’t have the chance to prove it. Still, with its best finish in school history, Utah also became the first non-BCS team to finish in the top two since the series’ inception in 1998. The hope is, in the future, Utah won’t have to deal with that “non-BCS” distinction.
“Hopefully, we can get an auto-BCS bid,” Whittingham said.
That certainly doesn’t seem like an unreasonable request considering what Utah has done during the past five seasons. Utah has now polished off two undefeated seasons in the past five years and owns the nation’s longest win streak at 14 games, and longest bowl win streak, which currently stands at eight. That’s not to mention the fact that Utah played in a Mountain West Conference that produced two Top 10 teams (No. 2 Utah and No. 7 TCU) and another Top 25 team (No. 25 BYU) and has a legitimate claim as a better conference in 2008 than three BCS conferences including the PAC-10, ACC and Big East. Even the Big 10 couldn’t field a team that finished ranked higher than the MWC top two teams and only had one more Top 25 than the Mountain West.
But an automatic bid for Utah, or any other non-BCS school or conference, seems unlikely until 2012. The BCS Committee just finished its first four-year evaluation period in which they evaluate conferences for automatic bids, according to the AP.
Utah’s win can still have a significant trickle-down effect for years to come, especially in future rankings.
One of the biggest obstacles in clinching a spot in the BCS Championship game for the Utes was starting the season unranked.
“We climbed our way up the ladder one rung at a time,” Whittingham said. “Our starting the season unranked, I think that proved to be our ultimate undoing.”
Following the Utes’ Sugar Bowl victory, Whittingham estimated that a non-BCS team would have to be ranked in the preseason between No. 15 and No. 20 to even have a chance at the national title. Even then, it would take a series of circumstances to land a team like Utah in line for the ultimate prize in college football. As it stands, Utah can’t point to a national championship trophy despite being 13-0 and holding the distinction as the only unbeaten team this year. The Utes still have a lot to be proud of.
“We thought we had the opportunity to play with anyone in the country,” Whittingham said. “We don’t look at this as a bitter pill. We press forward.”
Tyler CobbDustin Hensel, Utah?s right tackle, runs to midfield to join the team celebration after the Utes Sugar Bowl win. The Utes received first place votes but still finished the season ranked No. 2 in the AP poll.