Originally Posted by
SoCalPat
Deserving of its own thread. Shoot, there might be an older one with this very same/similar subject header buried dozens of pages back, for all I know.
I've been a proponent of claiming the 2008 title ever since the clock hit 0:00 in the Superdome. Somewhere in my closet, I've got a "2008 Utah NCAA Football National Champions" T-shirt that a friend crafted for me. Plenty of people in the national sporting press made the claim for us. It wouldn't be unprecedented (SEC schools have made it a cottage industry; Alabama has 11 AP titles but claims 17, for example). Quite frankly, there was no reason not to carry on that offseason like UCF did this past offseason, but cuz we're Utah and made of largely humble Mormon stock, such an uprising would be very unbecoming of us.
Or, we were too worried about what BYU would say in reaction. I think this mindset carries less effect today, but WWBYUT Syndrome (What Would BYU Think?) more strongly permeated our collective mindset back then, from the fan base all the way to the athletic department. Claiming 2008 in the moment would've been the rip-the-band-aid-off moment we've needed to show BYU we really don't care about them as much as they insist we do. Maybe, it would've greased the skids a little to make the Rivalry Hiatus a little more palatable.
Anyway, years ago, I noticed the NCAA record book allowed teams other than the AP, BCS and coaches poll champions to be listed as national champs so long as they had "Major Selectors" tabbing them No. 1, I knew this was our chance. I sent at least three emails between 2010 and 2016 pointing this out to them, but was ignored. Obviously, UCF did something to get the attention of the NCAA record book editor, because UCF was immediately recognized in this year's edition, as well as Utah. That we were more justified 10 years ago than UCF was this past year in making the same claim, yet didn't, is bothersome, but the end result is the same and that's what matters.
It's too late in the game to recognize 2008 properly this year, IMO. Too bad, because 10 years is a nice milestone number. Starting next year, I give the feat no less than one full page in the media guide and I make a display wherever we can within our facilities where fans and recruits can see it prominently. Have a huge blowout blast in 2028, so Kyle can properly enjoy it with his players (all will be done with their playing careers, and I doubt Kyle will be HC then).
I've moved away from hanging a banner right now. College football is still imperfect in how it distributes titles, and there are titles won on the field and titles won in the polls, rankings and record books. As much as we know better, Utah belongs in the latter category. Issue championship rings, tout it in the media guide and in appropriate spots on campus. Maybe ... maybe, you can unfurl a banner claiming such down the road.