Utah National Champ articles

Since the Sugar Bowl victory, there have been a lot of articles written by sportswriters around the country about whether or not Utah deserves to be number 1. I'm listing some of my favorites, and one that is less complimentary of the Utes.

Rick Reilly, ESPN Magazine: http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3815656
I love this article. In a way that only Rick Reilly can describe, he puts Utah up as the national champs. It is tough to argue with his reasoning, because really Utah did something that no one else did this season, won all their games.

John Feinstien, Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/06/AR2009010600092.html
John Feinstien also makes strong points in favor of Utah. Great to see the pub coming from the Washington post. I doubt that they've ever written something about the Utah Utes football team before. Very complimentary

Stewart Mandel, SI http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/stewart_mandel/01/07/cfb.mailbag/index.html
I consider Mandel to be a fairly objective writer. It is also difficult to argue with his reasoning that he just doesn't see Utah as the best team in the country. While I would wish it otherwise, I probably have to agree with him because of Utah's close games against teams that Florida and Oklahoma probably would have taken care of in short order.

Greg Doyel, CBS Sports
http://www.sportsline.com/columns/story/11229831
This was certainly my least favorite of the national writer's articles. Doyel took the opportunity to show his bias against nonBCS schools and tear down Utah. While he does touch on some valid points, he doesn't focus on them. Instead, he takes the opportunity to trash Utah, its fans, and others in the national media that have proclaimed Utah number 1. While I probably agree that Utah doesn't have as strong a resume as a couple of the other top teams, it is frustrating to see that still are still supposed non biased writers that refuse to give them the credit they deserve. A case in point in his article is his comment about Utah probably being a top ten team, which is rediculous. They beat two other top ten teams and didn't lose a game. How he could not even give them credit for being a top team in the country is beyond me. Utah is certainly a top ten team, and likely a top four team. There is no probably about it. It is tough to go from a fairly objective writer like Mandel to a clearly biased one like Doyel.

These articles are only a sampling of what I've read in the last few days about the Utes. Most of the rest is also good. Utah clearly has marked itself in the national picture and they really have a chance to build on this momentum and become a great team for a lot of years. If anybody sees any other atricles that they would like to have included here, let me know and I'll add them.