The final Associated Press college football poll is out, and Florida, of course, is No. 1. But a quarter of the AP voters picked Utah as the No. 1 team in the country, and the Utes finished the season No. 2.Overall, Florida got 48 first-place votes, Utah got 16 and USC got one. At least one AP voter picked both Utah and USC ahead of Florida.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said he was disappointed his team wasn't crowned the national champion:
"I thought we had an outside chance," Whittingham told the AP. "There was enough national sentiment, I thought we might get the No. 1 slot. It wasn't to be. ... All you can do is go out and beat the people on the schedule, which was exactly what our guys did."
Whittingham is right, of course, that all you can do is what his guys did. But this is college football, where the Utahs of the world aren't allowed to compete for the national championship. Utah did everything it could do, and was rewarded with the highest honor Utah could possibly receive in college football: No. 2.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-09-2009 @ 10:21AM
GCollins said...
I guess it would be too much to expect sport writers would be anything different than the press that covers the political scene. Don't rock the boat, don't ask the probing question (what is right?) but just go along with the flow. Whether its the White House or corporate American, as if there is a difference, they know what is best. The winner of the game has been designated as the best so it must be so. I'm sorry, but the game was not that impressive. Tebow carried his team and deserved the Heisman, another vote you blew. Utah and USC are both better teams, but were not anointed by BCS. That old Apple commercial should be updated with AP sports writers walking in locked step. Thanks to the 16 that could see beyond the hype.
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1-09-2009 @ 11:24AM
PhillyG said...
look at the records of the top 25 on the ranking UTAH is the only team with no loss, in my opinion the teams they put in the title game should never got in they both had a loss when they started the game. the game should be decided by record not popularity and how much money they have.
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1-09-2009 @ 12:09PM
Big fan said...
USC is THE BEST! They Ripped Ohio State and Penn Sate.. Texas barely got by Ohio State and they beat Oklahoma by ten.. Florida beat Oklahoma by 10.
PLAY the Game and I think USC and UTAH would beat both Florida, face it Stoops poor coaching lost the game last night
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1-09-2009 @ 5:21PM
DB said...
Look - the Utes were not number 1 because they play a weak schedule. Florida beat at least 4 teams better than the second best team Utah played. Teams that have cream puff schedules should not whine about number one at the end of the year. If you want to run with the big dogs you first need to get off the porch.
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