Over the last several weeks, just about everyone who covers college football has released a list of some sort previewing the season.
On Friday, a former coach turned ESPN analyst predicted that the Utah Utes will make the College Football Playoff, and earlier this week, he called Utah quarterback Cam Rising a Heisman sleeper.
It just so happens that said analyst has ties to the Utes and even deeper ties to their season opening opponent, the Florida Gators.
That analyst would be Dan Mullen, who most recently was head coach of the Gators from 2018 until he got fired after last season.
From 2003-2004, Mullen was the quarterbacks coach at Utah under head coach Urban Meyer (the two were on the same staff at four different schools from 1999-2008).
As far as his playoff prediction is concerned, Mullen pegged Alabama, Ohio State and NC State as the other three participants besides Utah.
He predicted that Alabama will beat NC State in one semifinal and that Ohio State will beat Utah in the other, and then that Alabama will beat Ohio State in the championship game.
— Dan Mullen (@CoachDanMullen) September 2, 2022
On Wednesday, Mullen released a list of six players to watch for the Heisman. He pegged Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr., Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud and Alabama quarterback Bryce Young as his finalists.
He then included three sleepers, and topped it with Rising, followed by Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson (whom he recruited there) and UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee.