Utah Football In The Pac-10: Why Not?

Last night's performance in the AllState Sugar Bowl said it all. Utah is ready to be a "big league" college football team.

Defying all odds and critics, the undefeated Utes brought their energy, talent, and a crazy student section, "The Muss," into Louisiana for an upset of epic proportions.

In their way was a colossal Alabama team, a squad with a coach who has won a national title of his own. The Crimson Tide was also a team that finished 2-1 against Top 10 teams, 3-1 against ranked teams, and 5-1 against teams making it to a bowl. Alabama also hails from arguably the best conference in college football: the SEC.

So understandably, when Brandon Godfrey caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Brian Johnson to put Utah up 21-0, it had Alabama fans and people who picked the Crimson Tide at -10 (myself included) a bit concerned. But really, this is a Utes team that deserves to be 13-0. They dominated 'Bama in most aspects of the game, including passing yards, total yards, and turnovers.

After the game, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham told bowl officials that he intended to vote Utah as the number one team in the country, which was a pretty obvious statement, but the fact that he said it spoke volumes, and sparked a debate that I promise you will be on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" and "Around the Horn" on Monday.

But whether or not the Associated Press finds it fit to name Utah the AP National Champion (they won't), this game begs the question: Where do the Utes go from here?

Though I doubt the Pac-10 is going to jump at the chance to admit an eleventh member, like the Big Ten did, I do think the Utes could make the argument that they deserve to be playing at that level.

This is a Utah team that Urban Meyer made famous in 2004 when Alex Smith and the Utes shocked and stomped Pittsburgh 35-7 while finishing as the No. 4 team in the nation in the AP. It is a team that hasn't missed out on bowl season since 2002. It's a team that's 8-0 in bowl play dating back to 1999 and 11-3 overall in NCAA-sanctioned bowls.

This year's Utah team earned a lot of respect from across the nation. They started off by "upsetting" Michigan in the Big House. After a year that Wolverine fans would love to forget, that may seem trivial, but to show up and beat a team as rich in tradition as Michigan in front of a crowd of 108,421 is still an achievement.

The Utes went on beat Mountain West teams such as Colorado State and Air Force—both bowl teams—and an Oregon State team that was still fresh off an upset of then-No. 1 USC.

If that doesn't sell you on Utah, the Utes had a very tough road to plow in November. With TCU, BYU, Boise State, and Ball State all looking like potential BCS busters, the Utes had to put themselves at the forefront of the mid-major pack, and they did just that.

A 13-10 win over the No. 12 Horned Frogs and an epic 48-24 drubbing over No. 14 BYU in the "Holy War" rivalry game gave Utah the No. 6 ranking in the nation and set them up for their second BCS victory in five years, this time against the Tide.

There's no reason why a team like this, a proven winner and a money-maker, should not be able to prove itself at the next level in the Pac-10. I don't think that conference will extend the offer, but I do think it's something the Utah football program is ready for.