I Tip My Hat to the Utes…

BJ and company reduced Nick Saban to a babbling dunce in the post-game interviews. I’m sorry…sniffle sniffle…you just have to understand that we lost two of our starting linemen…sniffle sniffle…I should have kept my mouth shut.

If your team and program are so powerful, put in a backup (who was probably All-World coming out of High School) and they should have been able to hold their own.

Don’t give excuses because your star lineman would rather roll in a Benz than play for your team.

The Sabanator is no more, he will be known as Little Nicky until he bucks up and says he got beat by a better team.

The Utes did a phenomenal job of spreading the field, pushing the tempo, and stopping the run. Alabama had no answer for the Utah rush, with the Tide standing wide-eyed and dumbfounded on the sidelines the Utes pounced, creating a point margin that couldn’t be closed.

I will admit it, it was fun to watch. Some of the best TV shots of the night were of Little Nicky pacing the sideline, wondering where Utah is located on a map.

With the Utes winning there will be a huge discussion about where they should end up in the final rankings. I think that they’ll end up around No. 4, with the winner and loser of the NC game No. 1 and No. 2, and the winner of tonight’s Fiesta bowl No. 3.

It will be hard for Utah to demand a No. 1 ranking with the current system; hopefully the Coaches will vote their consciences and put the Utes in the top slot.

Next year could be their year, if they can put together an identical season. I think a non-BCS school will get their shot for a NC is they have two consecutive undefeated seasons and a BCS bowl win already on their resume, excluding Boise State. They’ll need to get out of the WAC.

When those requirements have been met, then and only then can they be thought of as a possible National Championship hopeful.

Or am I off base?

Recruiting…BYU just lost a lot of ground on Utah. If you were a impressionable 18-year-old, would you want to play for a team that has been to two different BCS games (winning both) or a team that should soon have the Las Vegas Bowl renamed in their honor; it hurt to say, but I have to be honest.

Bronco has a tough sell. Yes, he does have some very promising things to present kids coming out of high school; yet top recruits, from good high school programs want to win on the biggest stage possible.

Being a religious institution is one thing, but I wouldn’t bank on LDS kids coming to BYU simply because of their religious preferences. There are a couple things BYU has that no other school can offer, and those “competitive advantages” need to be paramount when recruiting quality players and personalities.

BYU has won the in-state recruiting war for the past couple of years, but this year could be different.

Bronco has strung together some good classes in the past three years (who should be coming home from missions) and will be ready to contribute in 2009-10.

That’s one of the tricky things with BYU. The Y has to plan for a mission which can open up recruiting needs or present challenges when guys are returning home after two years.

It is an extremely difficult balancing act the coaching staff walks as they plan to win games next year and in the future.

I don’t envy how difficult recruiting is at BYU.