SALT LAKE CITY — Expectations are sky-high for the Utah Utes football team as the 2019 season approaches, but where might the Utes finish in the Pac-12 Conference after making it to the title game last season?
SB Nation's Bill Connelly wrote a detailed analysis of the conference and determined that Utah is second behind the Washington Huskies in the Pac-12 hierarchy. Connelly wrote that the Utes, Huskies and Oregon Ducks comprise the top tier of the conference.
Connelly argued that while the conference has good depth, it once again doesn't have an elite team from a national perspective.
The Pac-12 is again projected to have a higher average S&P+ rating (at plus-7.2, its average is closer to the third-place Big 12 than the fifth-place ACC), but while it's got three projected top-20 teams to the ACC’s two, those three (Washington, Utah, and Oregon) are all between 15th and 20th," he wrote. "And even if one or more of them overachieve, they still probably won’t be Clemson."
Other links
- Former BYU guard Matt Carlino retiring, to join TCU coaching staff
- Wasatch Academy big man Mady Sissoko ranked one of the best prospects in the country
- Weber State football stadium addition coming along nicely
And finally...
As the United States Women's National Team faced Spain in the FIFA Women's World Cup on Monday, one Utah Royals FC player was certainly rooting for Spain, even if she has played with or against many USWNT players for a long time.
Midfielder Vero Boquete hails from Spain, and was a member of the nation's 2015 World Cup squad. She has not been part of the national team since 2017, and as the game was unfolding Monday, she was hooked up to a microphone as she cheered on her homeland.
The excitement of the game, which the USWNT won 2-1, provided some excellent moments from Boquete, even if it didn't end how she preferred.