Were number 1...I mean 4...or maybe 2

So the final rankings came out for college football. I expected the Utes to end up 3 or 4 in the rankings. They did get 4th in the coaches poll, but I was thoroughly surprised to see the Utes ranks 2nd in the AP poll. These two rankings are the best the Utes have ever received and they were less than 100 votes from obtaining the number 1 ranking. But I am happy with the results and having 1 other MWC team in the top 10 and 3 in the top 25. For many of us who feel that a playoff is what is needed in college football. This season provided the strongest evidence for the need for a playoff.

We are now a week away from moving day. I will be taking this next week off of work to prepare for the move. But I just can't wait to get it all done and start our life in our new home. We have much to do, with packing up our apartment, getting our new house cleaned, close on the home, get new carpet and all walls painted in time for us to move in on Saturday. Words cannot describe how much I look forward to getting this all done. Once it is, we can finally relax in our new home. Yea!

Sweet Victory!!!

I had prepared myself for a possible loss last night. All the experts, polls, predictions and sports announcers all said that Alabama was headed to a easy victory and that Utah was going to repeat Hawaii's disappointing showing from last year. Then the first quarter started.

We were very happy to watch the game with our good friends the Herrera family and many other ute fans. At the end of the 1st quarter, we had scored 3 touchdowns and Alabama could not run an offensive campaign to save their life. Things were looking good for the Utes, but with 3 more quarters to go, victory was not certain. But at half time they were still winning and it was enjoyable to see the commentators try to correct their earlier predictions of a dominate Alabama victory.

When there was less than 5 minutes left in the game, it was certain that Utah was going to win and win big. I was on such a high that I could not sleep until after 1am. The perfect season 13-0. It was nice to see commentators finally acknowledge that not only did Utah belong in the BCS but also deserved a chance at the national title. Now being the only undefeated team, how can they not be considered championship worthy.

This is a great day for Utah, all other MWC schools and all other non-BCS schools. A team from a non BCS conference can compete and should not be shut out of the national title picture ever again. Of course the BCS supporters are already making their excuses for the Alabama loss and for why they should not allow in future non BCS teams or consider a playoff. But now less people believe them and change is on the horizon. All thanks to the Utes going 13-0.

I am proud that I was able to enjoy this season and even be a part of it by attending the TCU game and charging the field at the end. I only wish I could have been there in New Orleans as well. Maybe next time. We seem to visit the BCS every 5 years.

Go Utes!!!

Tonight is the night. After a month and a half without any Utah football to watch, we finally get to see their final game of the season and it is a big one. Making their second appearance in a BCS bowl, they will play Alabama in the Sugar bowl. This will be the toughest game for the Utes and even if they just keep the game close, I will be happy.

I have been reading some of the comment sections of many sports websites and many Alabama fans seem very unhappy to be playing in the Sugar bowl rather than the BCS championship. They vent their frustrations on any Utah fans they can find by belittling our team and telling us how unworthy we are to be there. I am OK with this. The last team to be unhappy to play us in a bowl and belittled us was Georgia Tech in the San Francisco bowl. Then we showed them how to play on the field and walked away with the victory. I see a possible repeat here.

We will be enjoying the game at a friends house and have been looking forward to it very much. Win or lose, I will still look back on this season as the best season the Utes had ever had. 2004 was great, but all those games were blowouts. This season the games were close and the spectators were sitting on the edge of their seats. That is why this season is the best ever!

Going bowling

The Utes fantastic season continues with a BCS bowl and high quality opponent. Last night we learned that Utah will be going to the Sugar bowl for a game with Alabama. I would have preferred the Fiesta bowl as more Ute fans could travel to that game. Instead we will be playing at a site full of Alabama fans. But I am OK with it. I am just thankful that this BCS bowl will give the Utes a true BCS opponent. Last time we were stuck with a un-ranked big east team that was a complete joke of a team. We had to go undefeated to earn the right to play in a BCS bowl and Pittsburg was able to coast in with 3 losses. Now we get a team that was number 1 and undefeated (like us) until just last Saturday. This should be a tough but good game and win or lose, I am excited for our team and the mountain west conference.

BYU will be returning to the Las Vegas bowl, but our 10-2 team will be playing a 7-5 team from Arizona. Kind of a disappointment but the Las Vegas bowl has always had a problem getting a high quality opponent from the Pac-10. At least the poinsettia bowl will be a good game. a 10-2 TCU team from the Mountain West will play a 12-0 Boise State team from the WAC. That will be a BCS type of match up and I am looking forward to watching it.

Now my favorite season begins. The Christmas/Bowl season. :)

I've always wanted to rush the field

My Realtor gave me front row tickets to the Utah TCU game last night. I grabbed a friend and together we came to cheer on the Utes. We showed up just before the end of the 1st quarter and by that time, TCU was up 10-0 and had over 200 yards of offense. So it did not appear like the Utes were headed to a victory. But the Ute defense stepped it up and kept TCU from scoring. They got a interception which lead to a last second field goal going into half time. By this time the score was 10-6 and the Utes were stopping TCU but could not get enough of their own offense to find the end zone.

Our tickets were on the first row of the north end zone. It was cool being that close to the field, but people kept walking in front of us trying to get us to stand and cheer. But our seats paid off in the second half. Twice TCU got within field goal range and tried to score. But the first field goal bounced off the upright and we were able to cheer at the sound of the ball hitting the upright. Then they got back into field goal range and tried again. This time they missed so bad that the ball missed the net behind the goal posts and went right to where I was sitting. Me and my fellow fans all jumped for the ball, which bounced off of me and ended up with the fan behind me. Once again we had plenty to cheer as twice the TCU kicker could have extended their lead but instead failed.

But now there was less than 3 minutes left and Utah had not been able to find the end zone and we were down by 4 points. But that was when the magic happened. Within 2 minutes Utah marched 80 yards down the field and scored their only touchdown. We made that stadium shake with 44000+ fans all jumping and cheering. With 43 seconds left, TCU tried to march down the field to tie or win the game. But our defense not only held them, they intercepted the ball to seal the win.

At this point, my fellow fans began storming the field. I had always enjoyed watching fans do this when I watched games on TV. But here was a chance for me to live it. So I to jump onto the field and joined the jovial crowd, jumping, clapping, cheering and chanting "BCS BCS." I loved it. After the week I've had, this was the best think for me to forget about the election and to be distracted from my upcoming move.

I have no ideas where I will be living on Nov 22 when BYU comes to Utah. But I have a goal to be all moved in and done by 4pm so I can watch the game. Until then Go Utes!

BYU fans need to learn from the chicken

To the BYU Football Players: Don't get down my friends. You are still a very good football team who will continue to have a great season and will enjoy a well deserved bowl. 1 loss does not ruin a season. So pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back to it. There is plenty of football to play and you are still a MWC powerhouse. You should also remain nationally ranked and deservedly so.

To the BYU Football Fans: HAHA. I really enjoy a quote from Abraham Lincoln. "The chicken is the wisest of all the animals. She only cackles, after the egg has been laid." You guys have been so cocky this season. "We are the best, we will be perfect this season, we will bust the BCS, etc." It appears that you spoke way to soon. Starting a season wearing T-shirts haughtily declaring your team is perfect and unbeatable. How goes that quest for perfection now?

May I point you to a example of how to bust the BCS. In 2004 a certain team from Utah start the season with a plan. Take each game 1 at a time and strive to win that game. Once that game is won, then move on to the next game and strive to win that one. Do not start looking to a game that is not the next game until it arrives. You keep that up, you will find yourself undefeated at the end of the season, with all your fans rushing the field. You will also find your self with a BCS bowl berth. That my friends is how you do it.

Good luck next year with being that year's Utah.

Loving football season!

The summer time is a depressing time for me, sports wise. I am not a baseball fan and nothing else, with the exception of the Olympics, catches my eye during the summer months. But when fall arrives, I am in sports heaven with both college and NFL fantasy football. I am cursed to have Dish network for my satellite provider, so I do not get 2/3 of all the mountain west football games. But my Dad has those games on his TV. So under the disguise of saying that I wanted to attend their local temple, I was able to infiltrate my parents place this Saturday and enjoyed both the Utah & BYU games. (Yes I did go to the temple, but was out in time to watch most of the football games.)

I really enjoyed seeing the Ute defense score more touchdowns than Wyoming did in all of its MWC games this season. The Ute offense did score 20 points, but need to improve by November when they face conference contenders TCU & BYU.

BYU finally had some good competition this week. New Mexico kept the game surprising close for most of the game. Their defense did a good job holding BYU to only 1 touchdown in the first half. But BYU's defense was much better by stopping the Lobos multiple times in the red zone. (Sorry cougar fans, just like you can't redefine marriage to include same sex couples, you cannot redefine the red zone into the blue zone.)

I am thrilled to see both Utah & BYU undefeated and nationally ranked. I hope they both continue their winning ways until Nov 22nd when Utah repeats as the MWC BCS buster. This is the season I had hoped would happen in 2004 with their undefeated season. The only way that season could have been perfect was if BYU had a better season and we were able to soundly defeat a good BYU team, rather than beating a rebuilding BYU team of the 2004 season.

The only sad part of this season is the rankings. Both teams win, but move nowhere in the polls. 3 of the top 4 teams lose this weekend and we don't see the Utes or Cougars advance in the polls. Have we hit the glass ceiling already?