The 2009 Sugar Bowl will feature No. 4 Alabama, from the Southeastern Conference, and No. 6 Utah, from the Mountain West Conference. This year's sold out game will be played on Friday, Jan. 2. The game will be televised live by Fox Sports beginning at 7 p.m. EST from the Louisiana Superdome. It is the first time since 1988 (Auburn vs. Syracuse) that the Sugar Bowl has featured two top-six teams in a non-championship contest.

"For the 75th anniversary of the Sugar Bowl, we were hoping to have two great teams and with No. 4 Alabama and No. 6 Utah, we have one of the highest ranked match-ups in a non-championship game in the Allstate Sugar Bowl's history," Sugar Bowl Chief Executive Officer Paul Hoolahan said. "Both of these programs have electrifying star players and outstanding coaches who have proven themselves on the field all season long. We cannot wait to welcome them to town and witness the match-up in this year's Allstate Sugar Bowl."

Alabama is led by a tremendous defense which has allowed just 256.9 yards (third in the nation) and 13.0 points (sixth in the nation) per game. Sophomore linebacker Rolando McClain leads the team and ranks sixth in the SEC with 91 tackles while senior safety Rashad Johnson has 82 tackles and a team-best five interceptions. Offensively, senior quarterback John Parker Wilson, who has started the last 39 games for the Crimson Tide, has thrown for over 2,000 yards this year with nine touchdowns and just six interceptions. Junior running back Glen Coffee has rolled to 1,347 yards on the ground, the 11th highest total in the nation. Wide receiver Julio Jones is one of the top freshmen in the nation and leads the Crimson Tide with 51 catches for 847 yards and four touchdowns. Junior Javier Arenas ranks second in the SEC and 13th in the nation with 14.4 yards per punt return.

Utah also has a formidable defense, having allowed just 17.3 points (12th in the nation) and 295.9 yards (18th in the nation) per game, while the Ute offense also ranks highly, averaging 37.4 points per game, No. 15 in the country. Leading the way for the Utes is senior quarterback Brian Johnson, a finalist for the Manning Award who has thrown for over 2,600 yards and 24 touchdowns with nine interceptions. Senior Darrell Mack and junior Matt Asiata have combined to rush for over 1,200 yards and 14 carries while senior receiver Freddie Brown has 65 receptions for 775 yards and seven touchdowns. Defensively, sophomore defensive end Paul Kruger has 56 tackles and 15.5 tackles for loss. Senior Brice McCain and junior Sean Smith (five interceptions) are both all-conference cornerbacks, while junior linebacker Mike Wright leads the team with 74 tackles. Punter/kicker Louie Sakoda is a finalist for both the Ray Guy Award and the Lou Groza Award, just the second time that a player has been a finalist for both the national punter and kicker awards. (more)

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Personal Note - for my Alma Mater (Utah) this will be the biggest game in which they have ever played. They went undefeated in '04 and had the BCS been fair to them, they would have been matched against undefeated Auburn in the #2 BCS game ... instead, they went to the Fiesta Bowl where they played Pitt, who they thrashed 35-7

If you have no vested interest in Alabama, consider being a Ute fan for the day ... they are an exciting and innovative team, but are underdogs against the powerful Crimson Tide ...

 

If Utah proves themselves by overwhelming Alabama, then to me they should be Champions being that they'll be the only undefeated team and they should hold their heads up high even if they don't.

 

I hate to say this, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, but... Utah is so overmatched its not even funny. They will be facing an uphill battle on a shear cliff face, with no climbing gear. It's not going to be good. Now you have to understand that I mean no harm in this comment and I would love nothing more than to see those Tuscalosers (Alabama) get whipped.

I graduated from Auburn...enough said.



For those of you that prefer simple mathmateics to literature...

SEC > Rest of NCAA div I Football.

 

Utah IS the underdog ... that's a fact ...

4 years ago, that might not have been the case ... if this were the same Utah team that went undefeated in '04, Utah would win ... as a point of clear fact, had the BCS committee been fair in '04, Utah would've beat Auburn in the #2 BCS game ... I'm sure you don't agree, but I'd have bet $$ on it ...

This years' team is not as good as the '04 team was ... they've had to scramble more to win and have performed unevenly at times ... it they have one of their better days, it'll be a really good game and they'll have a chance to win ... if they have an average day, they probably won't cover the spread ... and if they somehow have their worst game of the year on Friday, it could be as bad as you predict.

 

Now I don't think you can cross over the years... If you played the '04 Utes v. the '04 Crimson Tide then yes Utah would have won.

However, trying to be as unbiased as possible, there is no way that '04 Utah would have beaten '04 Auburn... unless hell froze over. The amount of talent on the teams is so different its ridiculous.

'04 Utah players PLAYING in the NFL:
Chris Kemoatu - PITTSBURGH
Jonathan Fanene - CINCINATI
Seve Fifita - MIAMI
John Madsen - OAKLAND
Paul Soliai - MIAMI
Eric Weddle - SAN DIEGO
Alex Smith - SAN FRANCISCO (though he shouldn't count because I believe his career is almost done)


'04 Auburn players STARTING in the NFL:
Jason Campbell - WASHINGTON
Carlos Rogers - WASHINGTON
Carnell Williams - TAMPA BAY
Ronnie Brown - MIAMI
Ben Grubbs - BALTIMORE
Marcus McNeil - SAN DIEGO
Jay Ratliff - DALLAS
Will Herring - SEATTLE

'04 Auburn players getting playing time in NFL:
Quentin Groves - JACKSONVILLE
Courtney Taylor - SEATTLE

...plus a few more on IR...


You wouldn't have won.

 

And, THAT is exactly why I SO wish the matchup had taken place ... there were record setting low temps in Hell that year and it is my honest opinion that Utah would, in fact, have won that game ... you DO recall who Utah's coach at that time was, right?

a good friend of mine who is a USC grad said that Utah was the only team that scared him ... IMO, he was right ... what a freaking shame ... 4 undefeated teams ... 2 of the 4 play each other ... why not the other 2 ??

 

blah blah blah...urban meyer. we smacked him around in '05, '06, and '07. Auburn was the only team to defeat Florida in its national championship year...

'04 Auburn 31 - '04 Utah 14.

 

Bama has suspended it's all america tackle Andre Smith. Should give Utah a chance, but call it Bama 45 Utah 23..........

Auburn guys?????whats up with that crappy hire for a head coach with a
5-19 coacing record??

 

Don't want to talk about it... we are all befuddled.

However, what is believed to have happend with regards to the Fired/Resigned thing of Tommy Tuberville.

After 'jet gate' in 2003 (google it), he added a clause in his contract that no one with any affiliation to the university can look for a new coach while he is under contract... bobby lowder (very large booster) did just that this year, and thus breached Tuberville's contract. This meant he could resign, go work at another school, and still get paid his buyout...

Jay Jacobs, the AD, says he was paid his buyout because 'it was the right thing to do'. This is BS, and they just royally screwed us over big time.


On the only positive note... Chizik was D-Coordinator during 2004 undefeated season, which is the reason many believe he was hired, because of his ties to the school....The onyl other bright spot is the fact we hired Tulsa's O-Coordinator to be our O-Coordinator. Tulsa had the #2 offense in the nation in 2008 season... So there is potential, without installing some stupid **** 'tony franklin system'


P.S. I digress, back to the topic at hand.... Alabama 28 - Utah 10

 

AU could have made a better hire IMO. The SEC is 3-1 in bowls. But if you watch ESPN the only team thats good is USC. GAG...

 

I'd put any one of the BCS Big 12 or SEC teams against USC !
USC way over rated

 

I'm with you on that. I can't stand USC by any means. No matter who they are playing I will root against them. Ugh, they make my stomach turn. They are like that D-list celebrity who still has a little life left in them, but pretends they are the most wanted celebrity everywhere they go. Pete Carroll must have a slight case of dimensia. Make it stop.

 

well, coming into the game today, the odds sure favor Alabama ... they're 9 point favorites and the over/under is 46 ... if I were betting, I'd take Utah with that 9pts and would bet the under ... the defense on both sides of the ball will determine the outcome, IMO

go Utes !!

 

 

Did someone say that the Ute's were overmatched and guess what, Hell did freeze over! They proved themselves tonight and Alabama was only able to score 10 points with their offense...Now that's total domination.... Ute's deserve a lot of credit and have a real beef with not being #1 for sure.

 

Bama didnt want to be in that game and it showed. They looked bored. Not only was the all american tackle supended but his back up went down early in the game. It's must be hell to go 12-0 in the regular season and not win anything. Worse to go 13-0 like Utah and not win anything. Of course Bama fans will get to brag they beat the hell out of Auburn and Georgia, the preseason number 1 team that finished 10-3.

 

I stand corrected.

 

Look on the sunny side of this ... it was 'bama, not Auburn ... had this been 4 years ago, you'd not only have been wrong in your prediction but had the displeasure of seeing it be YOUR team taking the loss ...

 

Just because I admitted I was wrong about the Sugar Bowl this year, does not admit fallacy in the hypothetical '04 Utah v. '04 Auburn game.

Which Auburn would have mushroom-stamped (google it) Utah.

But you are right, it was just 'bama. I mean they call themselves the crimson tide, when in reality they are represented by a deadly oceanic algae-like plague brought to life in the form of nothing less than... and elephant.

dumb.

 

well, since there is no way to go back in time and actually play that game, this whole line of conversation is moot ... I get to live with the inner knowledge that UT would have beat ANY opponent they drew with that team ... you get to live with the thought that Auburn could've mushroom-stamped them ... and neither of us can ever know which way the game would've gone ...

A playoff system is obviously long overdue ...