Taking A Look At Where Utah Football Lands In NCAA’s Early Top-25
May 9, 2023, 11:25 AM
SALT LAKE CITY – Spring ball is a wrap and now it’s on to dreaming about how things might shake out in the Top-25 for Utah football and the Pac-12 in the upcoming 2023 season.
Last week we took a look at what 247Sports had to say on the topic. This week we will be turning our attention to what the NCAA thinks the Top-25 will look like in 2023 and where Utah football fits into it.
Much like 247Sports, the NCAA thinks the Pac-12 as a whole will be good placing five teams in their early Top-25 predictions. Oregon State (No. 16), Oregon (No. 15), Utah (No. 11), Washington (No. 9), and USC (No. 8) are all believed by college sports’ governing body to be a top team in 2023. This comes on the heels of the conference finishing the 2022 season strong in the final AP Top-25 Poll with six teams ranked.
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The NCAA’s Early Impressions Of Utah Football
Last season, Utah was all the rage in the lead up to the 2022 season with many pundits predicting them as a College Football Playoff dark horse. This year the buzz is much quieter despite returning much of the same team that earned them back-to-back conference championships and Rose Bowl appearances.
Still, the Utes have a good shot at threepeating as Pac-12 Champions and possibly doing something more, but the path looks to be a bit tougher than in previous years. Add in some questions about how ready-to-go starting quarterback Cam Rising will be after suffering an ACL tear and there is reason why there is optimism about Utah without near the fervor.
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The NCAA writers seem to acknowledge the Utes are likely to fly a little more under-the-radar in 2023 and discuss how the team tends to thrive in that role under head coach Kyle Whittingham:
The Utes are the two-time defending Pac-12 champions but are going to again be underappreciated compared to the likes of USC and others in their conference. Coach Kyle Whittingham and his group are used to that and will again compete for conference honors. QB Cam Rising will be back after unfortunate injuries knocked him out of the last two Rose Bowls.
The NCAA’s Full Top-25
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Ohio State
- Alabama
- Penn State
- LSU
- Florida State
- USC
- Washington
- TCU
- Utah
- Tennessee
- Notre Dame
- Clemson
- Oregon
- Oregon State
- Texas
- Tulane
- Texas Tech
- Kansas State
- Iowa
- North Carolina
- Wisconsin
- Ole Miss
- UTSA
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports
