I've always found the Legends Poll interesting because it gives you a look into the minds of some truly great football coaches. Coaches who often roamed the sidelines long before the Utes ever emerged onto the national scene.
Each week, the Legends Poll releases its version of the top-25. The rankings have no agenda and because of that, they play absolutely no role in where a team finishes. This isn't the AP poll that gets to decide their champion and its votes aren't used when it comes to the BCS rankings.
Essentially, this is just a bunch of old men gathering around the table and grasping at whatever remaining relevance they have in this game of football. I know that sounds harsh, but when was the last time you heard anything about former Ohio State coach John Cooper?
Exactly.
These guys aren't making headlines anymore. They're not on ESPN or innovating the game like they may have done decades ago. But they still know football and this is their way of getting their opinion out there - free of charge, even!
So what do these legends think of Utah football? Well combined, their opinion doesn't differ at all from the current coaches - as both have the Utes at 7th nationally.
But unlike the current USA Today Coaches' Poll, these ballots are open to the public. You know exactly where each coach put each subsequent team.
Like did you know John Cooper puts Utah 4th nationally?
Cooper coached against the Utes twice in the 80s while at Arizona State. The Sun Devils won both games.
Then there is Fisher DeBerry, who spent pretty much his entire career coaching against the Utes in the WAC and Mountain West. He's familiar with this program more than almost every coach on this list because he saw its rise from cupcake to respectable program and eventually to western powerhouse.
So you'd expect maybe someone who saw Urban Meyer go 22-2 in Salt Lake City would throw a little love Utah's way.
Well not entirely. DeBerry has the Utes ranked 9th. Not bad - but below their 7th overall ranking. Think that changes if Utah beats his Air Force Falcons Saturday?
But the most familiar face on the poll to Ute fans should be LaVell Edwards. The BYU great. The man who coached against Utah in every one of his 29 seasons down in Provo.
Some hometown love? Nope. Not hatin' - but he ain't lovin', either. He's got the Utes 8th.
The coach who loves Utah the most, though? Terry Donahue. He has the Utes 3rd in his poll. Only Auburn and Oregon are rated better. Maybe he's throwin' around some Pac-12 respect for the future member of the conference he sits atop of in terms of total wins.
Of course, those are some coaches that gave Utah high marks. What about those coaches who didn't?
That honor goes to Mr. Bobby Bowden. He puts the Utes 13th nationally. 13th. Last week he had them 11th. I guess beating a team 59-6 deserves a two-spot drop in his poll.
Perfectly reasonable, right?
Of course, he also puts Boise State 9th - so they've got just as big of a gripe as the Utes do.
Who passed Utah up in his poll? None other than his Florida St. Seminoles - who had a great win over BYE last week.