That's right folks. I have given it a lot of thought, and after much prayer and contemplation ... I will be cheering for the Utah Utes this Saturday. I realize that most readers of this blog are Cougar fans. Don't worry. I've ok'ed this with my bishop and he promises that I can still keep my membership and temple recommend. Let me further explain. My main goal is a better Cougar team of the future. Let me explain how only a Utah win will accomplish that.
#1- I'm sorry to break it to you all, but a BYU win will NOT put them in a BCS bowl game. The Cougars sorry performance against TCU a few weeks ago put an end to those dreams. And to those of you who want to argue about other 1 loss teams going to a BCS bowl ... sorry, it ain't going to be the Cougars. The BCS won't allow for it:
"By rule, one non-BCS league team gets an automatic invite if it finishes in the top 12 or if it finishes in the top 16 and a BCS conference champion, like the Big East or ACC champion likely will this season, finishes lower. The BCS bowls can choose which team it wants if there are a few that fit the criteria, and at the moment, the odds are good that Utah would be the choice over Boise State, and if eligible, Ball State.
Barring a total collapse, Florida and Alabama will be in the BCS, and so will two Big 12 South teams (assuming Missouri doesn't win the Big 12 title). Assume Ohio State will get an at-large spot if Penn State beats Michigan State. With one non-BCS conference team getting in, which will be Utah if it beats BYU, and Boise State if the Cougars beat the Utes, there's your BCS." - FoxSports.com
Barring a total collapse, Florida and Alabama will be in the BCS, and so will two Big 12 South teams (assuming Missouri doesn't win the Big 12 title). Assume Ohio State will get an at-large spot if Penn State beats Michigan State. With one non-BCS conference team getting in, which will be Utah if it beats BYU, and Boise State if the Cougars beat the Utes, there's your BCS." - FoxSports.com
This then leads me to my next point...
#2- Trust me, if it has to be anyone, you want it to be Utah. A Utah loss, and Boise State gets the spot. Which they have had the past two years. Any idea what that costs the Mountain West Conference? $17.5 MILLION. I'm not kidding. (see http://www.bcsfootball.org/bcsfb/facts). Maybe they could use that money to fix their lousy TV contract. Taking me to ...
#3- No one will see the BYU-Utah game anyway. You know how everyone in Utah calls this the Holy War and how every year KSL and the Salt Lake Tribune do stories about how this is the best rivalry in the nation. Last year I lived in Florida. Now I'm in Wisconsin. Think anyone there cares about this game ... or has even ever heard of the Holy War? Nope. And none of them will get to see it anyway. The Mountain West Conference has the worst TV contract of any football conference. Which explains why ...
#4- Utah in a BCS game is great exposure ... not just for the Utes, but for the entire conference. I'm actually surprised to admit that the MWC had a great season. Look, they have 3 ranked teams now, and probably will at the end of the season. They played great in their non-conference games, which is very important for a non-"Big Six" conference. In my opinion, if no one plays in a BCS bowl to represent all they have accomplished this year ... it's all for naught. I mean come on, look at what the Mountain West gets ...
#5- Win or lose, BYU will play in Las Vegas... again. A Utah loss means they play in the Poinsettia Bowl. Both of these games are before Christmas. Lame. December 20th? No one is thinking about watching bowl games December 20th! I'll still be wondering how long I can put off buying Ashli a Christmas present! Besides, one of these bowls gets the 5th selection from the Pac-10. The other gets the 7th. Wow. Win those games and what do you prove?
I'm sure that many of you will have a problem with this. It goes against everything you have even done. Some of you will call me a traitor. Many of you will say I'm not a fan. I just want what is best for this program long term. I believe Bronco is doing a great job and that the team will continue to improve. This is what is best for BYU this year. And please realize that I attended BYU during the Crowton era. I do not 'bleed blue' as my wife does. Besides, as long as they sing "Popcorn Popping" at the games, or until the fans in Provo learn to tailgate, it won't really be college football anyway:-)
I'LL BE WEARING RED THIS SATURDAY!!! GO UTES!!!
7 comments:
Bart, you were always a sell-out!! Real Cougar fans always cheer for the blue side every game even if it means $14.5 million for the conference. I hope BYU destroys the Utes.
BTW, I can't stand Urban Meyer either. Still have love for you though
Clay
Bart, You are Hilarous! My husband is a huge Ute fan and I always tease him because my dad kind of played for BYU so that's who we grew up cheering for. However, he has trained my little boys to be Ute fans so therefore I support them. I just can't believe all the thought going into this. You still crack me up!
Bart, Bart, Bart...
How could you?
You lived in Wymount Bart, WYMOUNT!
not UMOUNT!
I do agree with you on a couple of points, However I feel I must disagree on MANY others. Yes the MWC has the absolute worse TV contract in the history of college football. Yes the conference has had a good season. But it's NEVER bad for OUR team to beat Utah and dash their hopes at a post season game. In fact I'd argue that, that would garner as much press as a token showing with Utah in a lesser bowl game. And I don’t think the money from a BCS game will fix the TV contract.
Oh and BTW tailgating is against the honor code –consumption of alcohol it’s in the conduct section... http://honorcode.byu.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3585&Itemid=4643
James
PS: I’ll be informing Bishop Hoyal
Bart - I've been meaning to get a hold of you forever and just haven't gotten around to it, but this post is as good as any to say hi.
The thing that surprised me about your post wasn't that you wanted Utah to win, but that you consider yourself a BYU fan. All I ever heard about was Wisconsin this, Badgers that. I guess we'll let you jump on the bandwagon after the year the Badgers have had :) Don't worry, I'm not delusional enough to think that BYU would blow through the Big 10 - but they would be competitive and at least have a winning record.
You make good points and I actually have a coworker that is of the same persuasion as you and will be rooting for Utah - but I have thought it through and realized that it would go against my DNA to ever root for the Utes in any form. I will be rooting for Fresno St and BYU hard that day - BYU may not get in to a BCS bowl - but as long as there's the slimmest of chances I'll hold out hope. Yeah it will cost a lot of money for BYU to win - but I don't care.
Shoot me an email - Jodee and I would love to get together with you guys since we're so close now. We've been talking about it for a while and we need to set a date.
Take care,
David
dluke11@yahoo.com
Well said.
Wow, it took me half way through the post to realize this was posted by Bart. I was really impressed with Ashli's football knowledge. Having said all that, I'm so glad you have finally seen the light and will be cheering for the Utes, even if it is for all the wrong reasons. Go UTES!!
TRAITOR!!!
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