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Utah coach Kyle Whittingham says he never pays attention to rankings, except, apparently, when it is the ranking of the Utes' opponent. Whittingham said following Monday's practice that he thought the No. 12 Bruins should be ranked even higher, then reeled off a bunch of reasons why. "They are a very good football team, particularly on offense," he said. "They have punted three times in three games, that is unheard of, so they are moving the football. They are taking care of it, they are putting points on the board, they are running it, throwing it, doing everything right. Defensively they are playing hard, they have good athletes on defense and a nice scheme so this is an outstanding team." Whittingham was impressed with the way the Bruins recently rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat the Huskers 41-21. "They are a high character team," Whittingham said. "They came back and took control and never looked back after that slow start. They have all our respect, no doubt about it." Whittingham went on to say he felt the Pac-12 was the best it has been in many seasons top to bottom and reiterated the Bruins should be a Top 10 team along with No. 2 Oregon and No. 5 Stanford. But asked who he would take out, and Whittingham laughed. "I'd have to go study it," he said. "That is an easy cop out, isn't it?" - Lya Wodraska