This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/usffan on 2025-07-20 08:56:54+00:00.
The cumulative link to the preseason rankings can be found here.
Utah (high = 18, low = 46) starts a run of 6 Big XII teams over the next 12 days, entering our countdown at #34. The Utes missed going to a bowl game for just the 3rd non-COVID season in Kyle Whittingham’s incredible 21 years in charge in Salt Lake City, mainly because they went on a 7 game losing streak before knocking off UCF to avoid finishing alone in 15th place. This from a team just one year removed from back-to-back Pac-12 conference championships (RIP). There was lots to forget about 2024 for Utah, from the QB injuries to the never ending questions about Cam Rising to AD Mark Harlan complaining about the refs in the Holy War (and getting fined $40K) to Whittingham hinting at retirement before announcing he’s coming back, but not before naming his head-coach-in-waiting successor in DC Morgan Scalley, but they’re predicted to finish in the upper half of the conference in 2025.
Roster outlook
Boy, the Utah offense was… not good last year. It was sufficiently bad that OC Andy Ludwig fell on his sword after losing to TCU in a 13-7 affair and prompting Whittingham to bring in former New Mexico OC Jason Beck to set things right. The Utes rank 41st in total productivity returning, but 16th on offense. That includes QB Isaac Wilson, who led Utah in passing yardage and initially entered the portal before withdrawing, and the entire offensive line. On paper, it doesn’t look like Utah lost much, but watching QB Sam Huard and WR Zacharyus Williams to USC, RB Anthony Woods to UCLA, CB Cam Calhoun to Alabama and WR Mycah Pittman to who knows where, it feels like their depth has taken a serious hit. Whittingham did manage to bring in the 6th best recruiting AND portal classes in the conference (good for 7th overall), and that’s before the seemingly inevitable addition of Jake Retzlaff from BYU. It does include New Mexico QB Devin Dampier joining his OC, along with Wazzu RB Wayshawn Parker, WRs Tobias Merriweather (Cal), Ryan Davis (New Mexico) and Larry Simmons (Southern Miss), plus Blake Cotton (Davis) to replace Calhoun in the secondary.
Schedule and outlook
Utah gets to reminisce about a little Pac-12 after dark by opening against UCLA in the Rose Bowl with an 11 pm EDT kickoff. They should be favored in that and their other two OOC games (Cal Poly and @ Wyoming) before Texas Tech comes to their lil ah stadium to open conference play. With so many Big XII teams bunched together, the only games that these rankings would suggest are not toss ups would be @ West Virginia and home vs. Colorado, Cincinnati (all of whom the Utes are ranked above pretty handily) and Arizona State (who is ranked well above Utah). Everything else (@ Baylor, Kansas State, @ Kansas and the Holy War in Provo) all seem pretty competitive, though I don’t like having all of them on the road. Looks like Utah should go bowling again provided they can keep everybody healthy. If things break right, they could be a darkhorse contender for the championship game.