The Utes establish themselves as "elite" and Wild Card Weekend thoughts

If you saw last nights game between the Utah Utes and the Alabama Crimson Tide, some may have saw the classic David and Goliath underdog game.  But that's not what it was.  No, last night was Utah establishing itself as one of the nations top programs.  As I noted in my first post (I'm sure if you scroll down, you can check it out) to me, to be an elite program, you need to win big games on the road and at neutral sites.  Well Utah has done that a few times now.  They ran the table in 2004 in route to a beat down of a pathetic Pittsburgh team in the Fiesta Bowl to become the first team from out side the BCS conferences to win a BCS game.  They completely dominated their opponents winning every game by at least 17 points.  And this season's undefeated run was even more impressive.  They started the year by beating Michigan in The Big House, came back and beat a TCU team that should finish in the top ten, and capped off the undefeated year by dominating Alabama last night in the Sugar Bowl.  What impressed me most about the win was the way Utah withstood Alabama's attempt at a comeback from about the mid-2nd quarter mark to the third when Utah went up by 11 and were able to hold them off.  Alabama got within four points mid way through the 3rd, but Utah, which looked stunned during the stretch when Alabama scored its 17 points, was able to gather itself, and make the necessary plays to finish off the Crimson Tide and finish the season undefeated.  That's how you become an "elite" program.

One more note on Utah.  Their win last night as well as the strong showing by the fans at the Sugar Bowl might have opened the door for future BCS invites.  What last night showed was that these bowl organizers can count on the University of Utah to come and support their team and for the team to make a strong showing at the games.  Don't be surprised if Utah becomes the first school from a non-BCS conference to get invited with a loss and not just get invited because they fit the criteria for an automatic birth.

Now on the NFL. Wild Card Weekend is always an exciting weekend of football with more than it's fair share of entertaining games.  Here are my thoughts on the games this weekend.

• Atlanta Falcons vs. Arizona Cardinals: This probably will be the game where you're watching and wonder "who are these guys." Well I think that this could be one of the more exciting and high scoring of the games this weekend.  But let's break down the game really quickly.  Arizona is 6-2 at home this season and averages 30.25 points per game at home.  And Atlanta is 4-4 on the road this season, plus is starting a rookie quarterback in a playoff game, who are 2-6 all-time in playoff games.  So the stats seem to be point toward Arizona. Well I think Atlanta will pull this out because of said rookie quarterback Matt Ryan.  He'll have his coming out party tonight and establish himself as the next big thing at QB in the league.  Also, Arizona has really struggled over there final six games and won't be able to get any sort of running game going.  Atlanta gets the win on the road.
• Indianapolis Colts vs. San Diego Chargers: This one won't even be close.  I could throw out a bunch of stats and stuff, but the main one is that San Diego went 8-8 in one of the worst divisions in football.  They have a lot of talent, but they are really beat up and have one of the of the worst head coaches in the NFL.  Indy will roll in this one behind another strong performance by the league MVP Peyton Manning.
• Baltimore Ravens vs. Miami Dolphins: If you like defense and good smash mouth football, then this will be the game to check out this weekend.  What's intriguing about this game is that both teams utterly sucked last season, only to turn it around behind new head coaches and QBs who didn't have much expectations going into the season.  Baltimore leads the league in takeaways, so if they can get some early takeaways, then look for them to try put the game away early.  On a quick side note, my friend "Lanky" is the biggest Dolphins fan I know and couldn't stomach what happened to them last year.  This year however, he's in living it up as the Dolphins won the division and is currently in Vegas considering betting his life saving on a Super Bowl run. Lanky, don't waste your money on the Super Bowl, but enjoy a Miami playoff victory.
• Philadelphia Eagles vs. Minnesota Vikings: Let me let you in on a little secret: I hate the Eagles.  Donovan McNabb is one of the most overrated QBs in the league and I think Andy Reid is one of the worse coaches in the league.  They always seem to beat up on the teams that suck and blow the games they are supposed to win. But yet they always seem to beat my Cowboys, but that's another story.  Anyway, this is exactly the type of game that they will blow and lay a huge egg in. I know that Minnesota is exactly a powerhouse, but they do have a very good defense as well as Adrian Peterson.  He goes off and the Vikings move on to the next round of the playoffs

Okay, enjoy your football and your weekend.

Later