They’re dancing in the streets of Orlando (well, probably) thanks to the NCAA’s decision to include the Golden Knights’ 2017 national championship in the actual record book but it turns out there’s another undefeated run from an underdog that is garnering attention from the folks in Indianapolis.
Per KSL.com’s Josh Furlong, the updated 2018 NCAA record book has also made a change that is recognizing the 2008 Utah team as a national champion for their efforts a decade ago. Most will remember Tim Tebow and Florida holding up the BCS crystal football that season as the generally recognized national champ but it seems Urban Meyer’s former team also got quite a bit of credit for going undefeated and beating Alabama in a memorable Sugar Bowl:Anderson/Hester, created by Jeff Anderson and Chris Hester of The Seattle Times, has been mathematically ranking college football teams since 1997, and it just so happens their model had the Utes as the best team at the very end. Anderson/Hester is officially recognized by the NCAA as a “major selector” and one that helped shape the former BCS era.
Previous NCAA record books (see the 2017 records book, page 115) failed to include other major selectors in its championship section, instead only listing the consensus pick.
The news probably leaves the Utes scrambling to find a national championship banner to hang up at Rice-Eccles this week prior to their season opener. I know if I were Kyle Whittingham, I would certainly be asking my agent about some sort of retroactive national title bonus getting paid out too.
Something says that for as fond as those memories were from a decade ago though, Utes fans probably aren’t reveling in the championship news quite like their counterparts at UCF are however. On the flip side though, at least both schools claims can unite one Crimson-clad fan base in particular against them given the history between all three when it comes to titles.
