The BCS is great.

[ERCougar]

Just because the basketball tourney happens during mid-term/final exams does not mean it hurts education at all.

LOL...no joke.

Education, my arse.

[TripletDaddy]

I don't get this misguided Big East/ACC hate.

Since the inception of the BCS, a Big East or ACC team has played in the title game 6 times.

The Big 10: 3 times.
The PAC 10: 2 times
The SEC: 5 times
The Big 12: 6 times

It is hard to argue that, historically, those two conferences are not pulling their BCS weight. At least not enough to strip their autobid.

[Babs]

I'm calling it. If Florida beats Oklahoma on a sandlot play in overtime the Utes will be no. 1 (AP) THIS YEAR!

No way. You don't vote against the almighty SEC.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Why should a MWC team have to do it for 2 years straight? Here is West Virginia's 2007 schedule. Remember if they had beaten Pitt they would have been in the NC game.

Sat., Sept. 1, Western Michigan, Home, Parents’ Day
Sat., Sept. 8, Marshall, Away
Thurs., Sept. 13, Maryland, Away
Sat., Sept. 22, East Carolina, Home
Sat., Sept. 29, South Florida, Away
Sat., Oct. 6, Syracuse, Away
Sat., Oct. 20, Mississippi State, Home, Homecoming
Sat., Oct. 27, Rutgers, Away
Thurs., Nov. 8, Louisville, Home, Mountaineer Day
Sat., Nov. 17, Cincinnati, Away
Sat., Nov. 24, Connecticut, Home
Sat., Dec. 1, Pitt, Home

Can anyone honestly say that the schedule above is tougher than Utah's schuedule this year?

The inclusion of the Big East into the NC discussion while ignoring an undefeated MWC champ is what pisses me off more than anything. All time, the MWC teams have a winning record against the Big East. I don't think too many people ever argue that year in and year out the MWC is as strong as the Big 12, SEC, or Pac-10. But I do think we're better than the Big East.

Another sidenote, I think the ACC is having a down time right now, but top to bottom that's pretty damn good conference. FSU and Miami won't be down forever and Butch Davis is going to eventually turn UNC into a contender. Add in a very good program like V-Tech and then competitive programs like Georgia Tech, Maryland, and BC (not to mention Wake Forest and NC State may be on the upswing again), and it's hard to really group them in the class with the Big East. They're like the Pac-10 in the late 90s. Once Bowden retires, FSU will be back and Miami will eventually land a great coach. V-Tech finished the regular season ranked 3rd last year.

The Big 10 is the conference that's heading down the crapper. Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan are all losing population. You simply don't have a talent pool feeding into that conference like the Pac-10, SEC, Big 12 and ACC do. No Texas, no Florida, no California. I would be interested to see if states like Georgia and Louisiana are producing more prospects than Ohio and Pennsylvania. That would mean the secondary talent pools for the Big 12, SEC and ACC are better than the primary ones for the Big 10. I would bet states like Virginia and North Carolina are producing quite a bit themselves.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

No way. You don't vote against the almighty SEC.

Perhaps you missed the fact that the MWC is better than the SEC.

[TripletDaddy]

I'm calling it. If Florida beats Oklahoma on a sandlot play in overtime the Utes will be no. 1 (AP) THIS YEAR!

this will be one of your Oregon State Pac 10 predictions.

If you go into your game ranked #1 and you win, you stay #1, esp if you beat #2. You are not jumped by #7.

So close, yet so far...

[Babs]

Perhaps you missed the fact that the MWC is better than the SEC.

QED

[ERCougar]

The inclusion of the Big East into the NC discussion while ignoring an undefeated MWC champ is what pisses me off more than anything. All time, the MWC teams have a winning record against the Big East. I don't think too many people ever argue that year in and year out the MWC is as strong as the Big 12, SEC, or Pac-10. But I do think we're better than the Big East.

Another sidenote, I think the ACC is having a down time right now, but top to bottom that's pretty damn good conference. FSU and Miami won't be down forever and Butch Davis is going to eventually turn UNC into a contender. Add in a very good program like V-Tech and then competitive programs like Georgia Tech, Maryland, and BC (not to mention Wake Forest and NC State may be on the upswing again), and it's hard to really group them in the class with the Big East. They're like the Pac-10 in the late 90s. Once Bowden retires, FSU will be back and Miami will eventually land a great coach. V-Tech finished the regular season ranked 3rd last year.

The Big 10 is the conference that's heading down the crapper. Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan are all losing population. You simply don't have a talent pool feeding into that conference like the Pac-10, SEC, Big 12 and ACC do. No Texas, no Florida, no California. I would be interested to see if states like Georgia and Louisiana are producing more prospects than Ohio and Pennsylvania. That would mean the secondary talent pools for the Big 12, SEC and ACC are better than the primary ones for the Big 10. I would bet states like Virginia and North Carolina are producing quite a bit themselves.

I agree on the ACC. I think the reason for their perceived "down" time is their parity. I think Sagarin had them ranked as the top conference in the country. I won't go that far, but when you have a bunch of good teams and no dominating one, ESPN isn't going to talk about you much because the records all look mediocre.

[SeattleUte]

QED

LOL.

[SeattleUte]

Why should a MWC team have to do it for 2 years straight? Here is West Virginia's 2007 schedule. Remember if they had beaten Pitt they would have been in the NC game.

Sat., Sept. 1, Western Michigan, Home, Parents’ Day
Sat., Sept. 8, Marshall, Away
Thurs., Sept. 13, Maryland, Away
Sat., Sept. 22, East Carolina, Home
Sat., Sept. 29, South Florida, Away
Sat., Oct. 6, Syracuse, Away
Sat., Oct. 20, Mississippi State, Home, Homecoming
Sat., Oct. 27, Rutgers, Away
Thurs., Nov. 8, Louisville, Home, Mountaineer Day
Sat., Nov. 17, Cincinnati, Away
Sat., Nov. 24, Connecticut, Home
Sat., Dec. 1, Pitt, Home

Can anyone honestly say that the schedule above is tougher than Utah's schuedule this year?

Utah's 2004 SOS was probably greater than this.

[TripletDaddy]

Utah's 2004 SOS was probably greater than this.

heck, BYU's SOS this year was probably greater than that

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

QED

I guess I am not savvy enough to know what QED means.

[TripletDaddy]

I guess I am not savvy enough to know what QED means.

It is pronounced, "queued," as in, "this post was really funny or interesting, so it is now in my queue."

It is akin to saying, "I just put this in my favorites."

You know, QED.

[Flystripper]

By the way, I've decided the most likely outcome is no. 2 AP and BCS. I don't see how USC winds up ahead of the Utes, after losing to Oregon State, which Utah beat; with the two big USC wins coming against Big 10 teams, Penn State being ranked far below Alabama and USC having played Penn State on its home field while Utah played Alabama in a hostile stadium; and the MWC 6-2 (thanks, BYU) against the Pac 10. Texas is similar. It struggled against Ohio State closer to home than Utah, Ohio State was not nearly as respected as Alabama, and Texas has one loss. The loser of Oklahoma and Florida will have two losses and should fall below Utah. Let's hope Florida wins and doesn't look too good doing it, because Utah was a lot more dominant against Alabama than Florida was. A lot of sportswriters feel like Feinsein and Utah will get a lot of no. 1 votes for that reason. I think they have a decent chance to be the AP no. 1. It really helps that Texas didn't annihilate Ohio State.

Regardless, que sera sera. A no. 1 ranking would be just the cherry on top.

Utah will likely be ranked number 3 and maybe even number 4. (I would vote Utah number 1 just to stick it to the BCS, but there are not enough guys in the AP that are like me.) AP voters are swayed by their regional bias which means that Utah will not get enough votes to jump USC and and might not get enough to jump Texas. USC will be number 1 or 2 depending on what happens on Thursday. Texas will be number 3 or number 4. There are just not enough voters that will get behind Utah. However, number 3 in the country is a fantastic season and more impressive than BYU's 1984 season, especially in the landscape of today's college football.

[SeattleUte]

Utah will likely be ranked number 3 and maybe even number 4. (I would vote Utah number 1 just to stick it to the BCS, but there are not enough guys in the AP that are like me.) AP voters are swayed by their regional bias which means that Utah will not get enough votes to jump USC and and might not get enough to jump Texas. USC will be number 1 or 2 depending on what happens on Thursday. Texas will be number 3 or number 4. There are just not enough voters that will get behind Utah. However, number 3 in the country is a fantastic season and more impressive than BYU's 1984 season, especially in the landscape of today's college football.

I appreciate what you're saying but I think you're going to be surprised. How amazing articles like this are still appearing five days later, and in places like Texas!

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/6197818.html

These articles are coming from the actual voters or their colleagues. BTW, FWIW, 3D officially threw in the towel yesterday on USC ranked higher than Utah.