Utah: The REAL National Champions

Why the Utah Utes should be No. 1 in the AP Poll:

• Utah is the only unbeaten team in Division I Football. 

• Utah has four wins over current top 25 teams (Alabama, TCU, BYU, Oregon State). Utah has more wins over top 25 teams than Florida, USC, Penn State, Ohio State, and Alabama, the same number of wins over top 25 teams as Texas, and only one fewer win than Oklahoma. 

• Utah has two wins over top 10 teams (Alabama, TCU).

• The Mountain West Conference was the fourth strongest conference in the country this season, ahead of BCS conferences like the Big East, ACC, and Pac-10. Utah went undefeated in the conference. The MWC was 6-1 vs. Pac-10 teams this year. TCU, Utah, and BYU of the MWC are all ranked in the top 25. 

• Oklahoma’s best win came against TCU, Florida’s best win came against Alabama, and the only team to beat USC was Oregon St. Utah beat TCU, Alabama, and Oregon State. 

• Utah soundly beat an Alabama team that was one quarter away from a national championship game berth. Utah scored 31 points on Alabama, the same number of points that Florida scored on Alabama, while only allowing Alabama to score 17. Florida gave up 20 points to Alabama. 

• Utah's defense is ranked 12th in the nation. 

• Utah had a harder schedule than USC, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Auburn, Penn St., Cincinnati, and Oregon. Had any of those teams been undefeated, they would be the National Champions. 

• Longest current winning streak in college football (14 games).

• Longest current bowl game winning streak in college football (eight bowl games).

1999 Vegas Bowl (Fresno State)

2001 Vegas Bowl (USC)

2003 Liberty Bowl (Southern Miss)

2005 Fiesta Bowl (Pittsburgh)

2005 Emerald Bowl (Georgia Tech)

2006 Armed Forces Bowl (Tulsa)

2007 Poinsettia Bowl (Navy)

2009 Sugar Bowl (Alabama)

Team, 2008 Record, 2008 Record VS. top 25 teams

1. Florida, 12-1, 2-1 vs. top 25 teams, could be 3-1 or 2-2—SEC

2. Oklahoma, 12-1, 5-1 vs. top 25 teams, could be 6-1 or 5-2—Big 12

3. Texas, 11-1, 4-1 vs. top 25 teams, could be 5-1 or 4-2 (didn’t win conference championship)—Big 12

4. Alabama 12-2, 2-2 vs. top 25 teams (didn’t win conference championship)—SEC

5. USC, 12-1, 3-1 vs. top 25 teams—Pac-10 (weaker conference than MWC this year) 

6. Penn State, 11-2, 3-2 vs. top 25 teams—Big Ten

7. Utah, 13-0, 4-0 vs. top 25 teams—MWC

Current AP Ranking

1. Florida lost to Mississippi (20)

2. Oklahoma lost to Texas (3)

3. Texas lost to Texas Tech (8)

4. Alabama lost to Utah (7)

5. USC lost to Oregon State (24)

6. Penn State lost to USC (5)

7. Utah: The only undefeated team in FBS

8. Texas Tech lost to Mississippi (20)

9. Boise State lost to TCU (11)

10. Ohio State lost to USC (5)

11. TCU lost to Utah (7)

12. Cincinnati lost to Oklahoma (2)

13. Oklahoma State lost to Texas Tech (8)

14. Georgia Tech lost to Virginia Tech (21)

15. Oregon lost to Boise State (9)

16. Georgia lost to Alabama (4), Florida (1), and Georgia Tech (14)

17. Brigham Young lost to Utah (7)

18. Pittsburgh lost to Cincinnati (12) and Oregon State (24)

19. Michigan State lost to Ohio State (10), Penn State (6), and Georgia (16)

20. Mississippi lost to Alabama (4)

21. Virginia Tech lost to Cincinnati (12)

22. Northwestern lost to Ohio State (10) and Michigan State (19)

23. Ball State lost to Buffalo (NR) who lost to Pittsburgh (18)

24. Oregon State lost to Utah (7)

25. Missouri lost to Oklahoma State (13), Texas (3), and Oklahoma (2)