This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Thoughts of the Utah Utes playing in the Rose Bowl one day became a realistic possibility when Utah accepted an invitation to join the Pac-10 in 2011.
Who knew that dream might be realized even before the Utes are an official member of the Pac-10?
The Utes, who are ranked No. 9 in the first BCS standings released Sunday, could end up in the "Granddaddy of Them All" this year.
Oklahoma received the top spot in the rankings, followed by Oregon, Boise State, Auburn, TCU, LSU, Michigan State, Alabama and the Utes at No. 9, ahead of Ohio State.
Here is how the Utes could land in Pasadena on Jan. 1.
According to the BCS selection process, the top two teams will be placed in the national championship game and the champions of the selected conferences are committed to host their bowl games. While the Rose Bowl traditionally pits the Big Ten champion against the Pac-10 winner, a provision was made for the 2011-2014 bowls to allow a nonautomatic qualifying team to play in the Rose Bowl.
If the Rose Bowl loses a team to the championship game and a team from the non-AQ group is an automatic qualifier, that non-AQ team would play in the Rose Bowl.
In other words, if Oregon wins the Pac-10, and is ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the BCS standings and goes to the title game and the Utes are the highest rated qualifying non-AQ team, the Utes would go to the Rose Bowl as the replacement team.
The catch, of course, is Utah must finish ahead of Boise State and TCU in the BCS standings. The Utes can take care of TCU themselves when the teams play Nov. 6 at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Utah will need a little help to pass the Broncos, provided Boise State wins out.
The strength of schedule should help the Utes since they are heading into the tougher part of their schedule while Boise State's is expected to drop as it gets deeper into WAC play.
In the first standings, Utah was ranked No. 11 in the computers, where the strength of schedule is a factor, and Boise State is No. 7.
In 2009, Boise State was ranked No. 4 in the first BCS rankings, won out and finished No. 6.
While it might help the Utes to continue to win big to earn the so-called style points to impress the voters, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham reiterated after Saturday's 30-6 win over Wyoming that he isn't interested in playing that game.
The Utes had a chance to score again late in the game but went with some conservative play-calling.
"We didn't want to try to score," Whittingham said. "We just wanted to run the ball and get out of there. We want to do what is right for our team."
lwodraska@sltrib.com Twitter: sltributes; lyawodraska —
BCS bowl ties
ACC • Orange, Jan. 3
Big Ten/Pac-10 • Rose Bowl, Jan. 1
Big 12 • Fiesta Bowl, Jan. 1
SEC • Sugar, Jan. 4
National Championship (Glendale, Ariz.) • Jan. 10 —
BCS average
The BCS Average is calculated by averaging the percent totals of the Harris Interactive, USA Today coaches and computer polls. Team percentages are derived by dividing a team's actual voting points by a maximum 2825 possible points in the Harris Interactive Poll and 1475 possible points in the USA Today coaches poll.
Six computer rankings are used to determine the overall computer component. The highest and lowest ranking for each team is dropped, and the remaining four are added and divided to produce a Computer Rankings Percentage. The six computer ranking providers are Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, Jeff Sagarin, and Peter Wolfe. Each computer ranking accounts for schedule strength in its formula.
Harris USA Today Computer BCS
Rk Pts Pct Rk Pts Pct Rk Pct Avg Pv
1. Oklahoma 4 2486 0.8800 3 1334 0.9044 1 .060 0.9215 —
2. Oregon 1 2774 0.9819 1 1452 0.9844 8 .330 0.8921 —
3. Boise St. 2 2685 0.9504 2 1385 0.9390 7 .260 0.8898 —
4. Auburn 5 2410 0.8531 5 1238 0.8393 3 .140 0.8641 —
5. TCU 3 2516 0.8906 4 1300 0.8814 5 .240 0.8573 —
6. LSU 6 2164 0.7660 6 1132 0.7675 2 .100 0.8245 —
7. Michigan St. 8 1964 0.6952 8 1037 0.7031 4 .150 0.7628 —
8. Alabama 7 2092 0.7405 7 1085 0.7356 12 .520 0.6654 —
9. Utah 9 1925 0.6814 9 1004 0.6807 11 .440 0.6540 —
10. Ohio St. 10 1761 0.6234 10 936 0.6346 14 .580 0.5726 —
11. Missouri 16 1196 0.4234 16 640 0.4339 6 .180 0.5491 —
12. Stanford 13 1455 0.5150 14 689 0.4671 10 .410 0.5374 —
13. Wisconsin 11 1646 0.5827 11 867 0.5878 16 .610 0.5335 —
14. Oklahoma St. 15 1247 0.4414 15 659 0.4468 9 .350 0.5261 —
15. Iowa 12 1511 0.5349 12 785 0.5322 17 .660 0.4824 —
16. Nebraska 14 1322 0.4680 13 768 0.5207 20 .740 0.4295 —
17. Florida St. 17 1124 0.3979 17 608 0.4122 13 .570 0.4267 —
18. Arizona 18 1037 0.3671 18 494 0.3349 15 .600 0.3807 —
19. Texas 22 397 0.1405 22 256 0.1736 18 .690 0.2214 —
20. West Virginia 19 663 0.2347 19 323 0.2190 23 .650 0.1812 —
21. South Carolina 21 576 0.2039 20 284 0.1925 24 .690 0.1555 —
22. Kansas St. 22 143 0.0506 27 53 0.0359 19 .620 0.1422 —
23. Arkansas 20 213 0.2050 21 274 0.1858 28 .000 0.1302 —
24. Mississippi St. 20 129 0.0457 24 133 0.0902 21 .800 0.1253 —
25. Virginia Tech 23 242 0.0857 23 165 0.1119 28 .000 0.0658 — —
AP Top 25 poll
Record Pts Pv
1. Oregon (39) 6-0 1,471 2
2. Boise St. (15) 6-0 1,433 3
3. Oklahoma (3) 6-0 1,355 6
4. TCU (3) 7-0 1,340 4
5. Auburn 7-0 1,279 7
6. LSU 7-0 1,132 9
7. Alabama 6-1 1,121 8
8. Michigan St. 7-0 1,062 13
9. Utah 6-0 1,019 11
10. Wisconsin 6-1 920 18
11. Ohio St. 6-1 895 1
12. Stanford 5-1 828 14
13. Iowa 5-1 768 15
14. Nebraska 5-1 684 5
15. Arizona 5-1 619 17
16. Florida St. 6-1 615 16
17. Oklahoma St. 6-0 575 20
18. Missouri 6-0 552 21
19. South Carolina 4-2 372 10
20. West Virginia 5-1 346 25
21. Arkansas 4-2 343 12
22. Texas 4-2 267 —
23. Virginia Tech 5-2 122 —
24. Mississippi St. 5-2 111 —
25. Miami 4-2 85 —
Others receiving votes • Southern Cal 80, Kansas St. 40, Nevada 19, Hawaii 8, North Carolina 8, Northwestern 8, Michigan 7, Georgia Tech 5, Oregon St. 3, Baylor 2, N.C. State 2, Air Force 1, East Carolina 1, Kentucky 1, Washington 1. —
USA Today Top 25 poll
Record Pts Pvs
1. Oregon (42) 6-0 1,452 2
2. Boise State (11) 6-0 1,385 3
3. Oklahoma (4) 6-0 1,334 6
4. TCU (1) 7-0 1,300 5
5. Auburn (1) 7-0 1,238 7
6. LSU 7-0 1,132 9
7. Alabama 6-1 1,085 8
8. Michigan State 7-0 1,037 11
9. Utah 6-0 1,004 10
10. Ohio State 6-1 936 1
11. Wisconsin 6-1 867 16
12. Iowa 5-1 785 14
13. Nebraska 5-1 768 4
14. Stanford 5-1 689 15
15. Oklahoma State 6-0 659 18
16. Missouri 6-0 640 19
17. Florida State 6-1 608 17
18. Arizona 5-1 494 20
19. West Virginia 5-1 323 25
20. South Carolina 4-2 284 12
21. Arkansas 4-2 274 13
22. Texas 4-2 256 NR
23. Virginia Tech 5-2 165 NR
24. Mississippi State 5-2 133 NR
25. Miami (Fla.) 4-2 127 NR
Others receiving votes • Northwestern 60; Kansas State 53; Nevada 28; Michigan 23; Hawaii 9; North Carolina 8 ; Georgia Tech 6; Air Force 5 ; East Carolina 4; Baylor 3; Navy 1.