Utah Utes Projected To Have Second Best Record In Pac-12 During 2020 Season

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The ESPN Football Power Index has projected the 2020 Utah football to have the second best record in the Pac-12.

According to ESPN’s FPI, Oregon is projected to have the best record at 11-2 with Utah and USC both projected to finish with 9-4 records.

Behind the Utes and Ducks is Stanford and Washington at 7-5. Arizona State, California, UCLA and Washington State each are projected to have 6-6 records. Projected to win 5 games are Arizona and Oregon State with Colorado bringing up the rear with a projected 4-8 record.

Projected 2020 Overall Record per @ESPN FPI (rounded)

Oregon, 11-2
USC, 9-4
Utah, 9-4
Stanford, 7-5
Washington, 7-5
ASU, 6-6
Cal, 6-6
UCLA, 6-6
WSU, 6-6
Arizona, 5-7
OSU, 5-7
Colorado, 4-8

— SportsPac12 (@SportsPac12) May 4, 2020

New Faces, Returning Talent In Pac-12

The defending champion Oregon Ducks lose some talent on both sides of the ball but bring in the best recruiting class in the Pac-12 including one of the top quarterbacks in the country. Match that with a dominate offensive line led by former Desert Hills star Penei Sewell. Also, the linebacker group is stacked with the No. 1 recruit in California and the top prospect from the state of Utah in Noah Sewell from Orem High School coming in as freshmen.

USC has turned the page on their quarterback and will lean on defending Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Kedon Slovis. The Trojans always have play makers at the wide receiver positions and the 2020 squad is no different.

The Utes will have a ton of new faces on the field in 2020 after losing 9 of their 11 starters on defense along with losing their starting quarterback, running back and left tackle. They brought in a graduate transfer at quarterback and signed the best recruiting class in school history and the fifth-best in the conference.

Washington will need to reload on key positions including quarterback and running back. They have some great weapons at wide receiver including former Orem High star Puka Nacua. The Huskies signed the second-best class in the Pac-12.

What Is A Football Power Index?

ESPN put a glossary at the bottom of the FPI and the portion that the projection for each game says “Team’s projected win percentage in game, based on each team’s current FPI, game location and game type (bowl, FCS, etc.).”

Along with projecting each game, the FPI also ranks the team with a rating. Utah has an 11.2 FPI rating which is No. 24 in the country. Only USC has a higher rating than the Utes among the teams that Utah will face in 2020.

The FPI projected Utah to match the same amount of wins that they had in 2019 with 11. That is based off of how many games Utah is favored to win. But, the FPI lists Utah’s record at 8.6-3.7.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.