The logical National Champion

As if we need more reasons for the Utes to be national champions I'm going to spell it out logically.

The Utes are currently ranked 7th in the AP poll. The loss of Penn State and the win over Alabama automatically drop those two teams below the Utes. Here is why the Utes deserve to be ranked above the remaining 4 teams.

Florida lost to Ole Miss who lost to Alabama who was beat by Utah (by a larger margin than Florida beat them I might add).
Oklahoma lost to Texas who lost to Texas Tech who lost to Ole Miss who lost to Alabama who lost to Utah.
Texas lost to Texas Tech who lost to Ole Miss who lost to Vanderbilt who lost to Tennessee who lost to Wyoming who lost to Utah.
USC lost to Oregon State who lost to Utah.

Utah lost to NOBODY!!!!

More arguments for a Ute national championship

The BCS is a joke so we'll move straight to the AP title. That's the one that crowned the real national champion back when the BCS went with Saban's LSU Tigers. This year there have been 5 different teams ranked number 1 in the AP poll. Every one of those teams was undefeated until Florida took over the spot in the last week of the season. The only reason there weren't 7 different number 1 teams is that Penn State and Texas Tech both lost before Alabama (both teams were ranked above all one loss teams at one point in the season).

There is no doubt that if Alabama or Penn State were left as the only undefeated teams in FBS they would be national champions. The argument goes something like Alabama and Penn State deserve it if they can make it through their grueling schedules, yet both teams have a worse Strength of Schedule than the Utes.

The Utes beat 6 bowl teams this year. They went 3-0 against BCS ranked teams. When looking at the big schools it's rarely a one year deal, we look at how dominant said team has been for the past few years and that factors into the equation. The Utes have now gone undefeated twice in 4 years. They have won 8 straight bowl games and own the nations longest winning streak at 14 games. When talking about the national title there is an argument against every team in the nation except the Utes.

As if you need any more support for the Utes they also beat Oregon State and from the look of things this bowl season it appears that the SEC and Big 12 may not have a stranglehold on the best BCS conference.

In the end they are undefeated and they finished the season by spanking the team that held the top spot in the AP poll and the BCS for 5 weeks this season. That's a recipe for a national title if I've ever seen one.

National Champions!!!

My rant for a playoff will come next week, but tonight we watched the national champions beat Alabama. Utah finished off a perfect season by beating a top 5 team. There remains one undefeated team in the nation. Now I could understand the Utes getting left out of the championship conversation (as they will) if they squeaked by the Tide. Maybe if they won on some trick plays like Boise did a couple years ago people could say they got lucky, but Utah beat Alabama and they beat them good. The Tide averaged 160 yards a game rushing in the "powerful" SEC and they mustered 31 yards against the Utes. Even the two touchdowns Bama scored showed how good the Utes played. One came on a punt return and the other after a fumble gave the Tide a short field. The Utes stifled every drive the Tide attempted. This was nothing short of a beat down and the Utes deserve the AP national championship. There is no longer an argument against the Utes this year.

Bring on the Ravens

Some of you may remember my jubilation back in October when the Dolphins beat the Patriots. If you have forgotten you can read about it here. Today my joy is full.

I am nothing if not a Dolphin fan. I also possess a deep disdain for the Jets only surpassed by my absolute hatred for the Patriots. Today we reached the peak of the mountain that we started climbing after the AFC championship game last year. The Patriots lost in the Super Bowl leaving them with one loss in a season where the aforementioned Dolphins won one game. That same Patriots team lost their overrated quarterback and struggled to an 11-5 finish this year. Any other year 11-5 gets you into the playoffs, but not this year. You see the Patriots needed the Dolphins to lose today to get into the playoffs. This brings us to my fullness of joy. The Dolphins went from 1-15 to 11-5 and in the last game of the season they not only beat the Jets to make the playoffs, but they also ensured that the Patriots would be left out of the party this year. Victory and Vengeance all in one afternoon.

I can now turn all my attention to the Utes game on Friday. With all due respect to Florida and Oklahoma, if Utah can beat Alabama in New Orleans they deserve to be ranked number 1. That won't happen, but it should. It is inconceivable that a team can finish the season ranked in the top 6 in the nation and beat a top 5 team in a BCS bowl game to finish the season as the only undefeated team in college football and yet be an afterthought in the national title picture. What makes it even worse is that if the Utes win, the team they will have beaten was the consensus number one team in the nation just one month ago heading into the SEC championship game.

Go Utes!

One Down, One to Go

Jessi had surgery yesterday morning to remove her tubes. She had developed a tumor next to one so it had to be removed and the other one once cleaned off pretty much was falling out on its own so it was removed as well. The ENT doesn't think she needs new ones due to her ear growth so we are hopeful that her ears won't cause her any more problems and she can have fun in the pool with her brothers this summer. She did a great job and charmed every nurse that she saw earning herself a stash of stickers. She was a bit upset after surgery as the anesthesia wore off but calmed down rather quickly in her daddy's lap and was ready to go home by 9:00. On a funny note, before they took her back for surgery they gave her a drug to help calm her. Within 5 minutes she was swaying in circle while holding on to the bars of the bed and watching her hands sway back and forth in the air. It was hilarious. She was so out of it she doesn't remember them rolling her down the hall and mommy and daddy leaving. Ah the miracle of drugs.

Yesterday afternoon we also had an appointment for Spencer with the Urologist. He has been having pain when he urinates and it is getting rather bothersome to him. With one look at Spencer the doctor was sure that he needs to have surgery. They need to widen his "pee pee hole" (Spencer's term) as the doctor says it currently barely exists. So it looks like in late January we will be back in the hospital again for another round of surgery. Just like Jessi, they won't need an IV as it is so short they can just use a mask. Once Spencer heard there were no shots and it wouldn't hurt him anymore to urinate he got rather excited at the prospect of minor surgery. He is also hoping to round up some stickers. Well see how his charms work on the nurses.

Thank you to all of our friends who have watched of our children during all of our doctor's appointments this month. It has been a little crazy keeping up with them all but knowing there was always someone willing to watch the kids really relieved a whole ton of my stress. Thanks again, and let me know when we can repay the favor.