Article Contributed on: 1/2/2009 9:50:34 PM
A collective cheer rose up to the Mountain tops and throughout the West: Your assumed dominance is now over.
Utah's 31-17 win over Alabama in Friday night's Sugar Bowl cemented the conference's place as one of the top six conferences in the country, whether it has a BCS title or not.
This win was big - bigger than when
Alex Smith led the Utes to a 35-7 win over Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl five years ago - undoubtedly the biggest win in conference history.
That was a win over mediocre Pitt of the Big East, one of the worst of the BCS conferences.
This win came over the Crimson Tide, the quintessential big football school from the quintessential big football conference - the SEC. And it was in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans - the heart of SEC country.
No one can dismiss this.
And no one could dismiss as the Utes's effort broke through missed Alabama tackles on the way to three rapid touchdowns in the first quarter, before answering the Alabama surge in the third quarter.
And you could only flashback to last year's Sugar Bowl, when Georgia ripped through the Hawaii offensive line with the Warrior quarterback
Colt Brennan running for his life. Except this time it was the BCS quarterback, Alabama's
John Parker Wilson, with the pressure in his face all game with the Utah defensive line slipping through re-tooled Alabama offensive line for an unimaginable eight sacks.
As the seconds ticked down, the television camera showed a man with a sign that stated "Respect Us," with the 'U' shaped like the Utah logo. He may have meant just Utah, but it could have been for the entire conference.
The Mountain West Conference may not be considered "BCS" - but there's not doubt it is one of the best six conferences in college football.
For more Mountain West Conference news and information, go to
CollegeJunction.net