a placeless world

It's rivalry Saturday and I'm in Salt Lake City — no where near my alma mater.

So I've bought a Yahoo! Sports pass — a $4.95 ticket to audio paradise — and now I've got a broadcast of the The Civil War streaming out of my computer speaker, while the BYU-University of Utah game is silently churning on the TV screen next to me.

Utah's actually having some trouble with its Beehive State rival right now — the No. 5-ranked Utes are only up 21-14 a few seconds into the half — and it occurs to me that they haven't been in such a predicament all season long. Meanwhile, Oregon State's having its way in Corvallis — for now.

Before a sudden shift in the winds blew Utah back into BCS contention last week, there was a whole lot of whining going on here on the Wasatch Front. You've heard it all before — the "but we're undefeated" beef.

In all fairness, the Utes have faced a few decent foes this season — they beat Texas A&M by 20, North Carolina by 30 — but I'm having a hard time believing that being 9-0 in the Mountain West Conference is anything like being 9-0 in the Pac-10.

I'm not about to claim that the Utes wouldn't be in the Pac-10 limelight this season, if they were indeed in the Pac-10. And I'm certainly not going to pretend like this year's OSU squad is as good as Utah.

But harkening on a miracle half of football, two weeks ago, in which OSU took early advantage of top-ranked USC before falling by the wayside, it occurs to me that USC has been unable to look past any rival this season, while Utah seems to have spent the entire season looking past each and every patsy they've played, eyes always firmly affixed on making history by becoming the first non-BCS conference team to win a berth in one of the Big Four Bowls.

Third quarter in both games now, and my thesis is holding strong. Utah is breaking away from BYU — and Ute fans are on their cell phones in Rice-Eccles Stadium ordering tickets to Phoenix.

Meanwhile, the Ducks have pulled to within six of the Beavers. It's going to be another fight.

The Utes deserve a shot at the Fiesta Bowl this season. But not because they're undefeated. They're just a good team.

But how do you quantify that? Even with all of those damned super computers.

I've said it before. I'll say it again. And I know I'm not breaking any new ground here: We need a playoff.

Bad.