Utah Is Not in the BCS Title Game Since Harris Voters Do Not Watch Utah

In a great insightful article  by Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel, multiple Harris Poll voters were quoted as saying they watched very few, if any, of Utah’s games this year. 

Let me remind the readers that the Harris Poll makes up one-third of the BCS, which pits No. 1 versus No. 2 for the mythical national champion of college football.  The AP pulled out because they did not want to make the news, and they were replaced by many former coaches, athletes, and others to vote. 

The Harris Poll voters make up a diverse group of people from across the country, but that did not stop voters from watching games.

Just ask some of the voters in the Harris Interactive Poll, which helps determine the title-game matchup.

“I did not see them play [in the regular season],” Bobby Aillet said.

“I didn’t see any live games,” Lance McIlhenny said. “I just [saw] highlights.”

“I don’t recall if I saw them play specifically during the regular season,” David Housel said. “I don’t remember a specific game.”

All I can say is, WOW! Another excuse was that the Utah games are difficult to find because they are broadcast on Versus, CBS College Sports, and the league-owned Mountain West network.  

In years past, the Mtn. was only available in the great Mountain West region, but this year the league-owned channel is available on DirecTV.  The argument that the games are hard to find is somewhat valid, but the Pac-10 has a crummy TV deal that requires viewers to purchase the same package to see all the games that are on their Fox Sports Net regional channel.

Yes, the Pac-10 has some games on ESPN and ABC, but Versus is in as many households as ESPN and CBS.  These voters do not need to watch every game of every league, but one would think that they would watch something, especially with Utah, who was undefeated and finished their regular season the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Another great quote from this article is Wetzel’s comment: ‘Whether Utah deserved to be ranked No. 1, 2 or 25 isn’t the point of this argument. The Utes deserved to have voters at least see them.’

The worst offender is broadcaster Don Criqui, who didn’t even bother to cast a final ballot. That vote should be taken away for not caring about this process. But why would he care if the title is not really decided.  Utah has the disadvantages of playing in a league that is 10 years old, and does not have the history of the team they just embarrassed on national television.  

,If the same players donned the unis of a Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame, or any university with history, they would have been in the title game, no questions asked.

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