Utah football has added its first two Pac-12 champion trophies to the school’s trophy case the past two seasons.
What would it take for Kyle Whittingham’s program to collect a third straight?
One national pundit, CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah, attempted to answer that question while ranking the likelihood of each defending conference champion at the FBS level repeating that feat this season.
Utah was fourth on his list of teams likely to repeat as conference champions, as he called the Utes “a fascinating case to project.”
With guys like quarterback Cam Rising and tight end Brant Kuithe returning on offense, a traditionally stout defense reloading again and the program adding a handful of starter-level talents through the transfer portal, Jeyarajah sees Utah being a contender again for Pac-12 supremacy.
The difficulty of the Pac-12 schedule this year, though — with teams like Oregon, USC, Washington and Oregon State also sporting top 25 expectations this season — could prove a challenge for the Utes to make it a three-peat.
“Utah has won back-to-back Pac-12 championships with historic trips to the Rose Bowl. On the other end, the Utes were underdogs in both Pac-12 Championship Games they won and have historically started slow,” Jeyarajah wrote.
His list of the top four teams most likely to repeat as conference champions all came from the Power Five ranks — ahead of the Utes, Jeyarajah tabbed defending national champion Georgia the most likely to repeat as champions in the SEC, followed by Clemson in the ACC and Michigan in the Big Ten.
While Utah will play seven home games this season — and last lost a home game three years ago — its road slate is where the Utes’ chances of three-peating will either sink or swim.
Utah plays an early nonconference road game at Baylor, then later plays at Oregon State and USC three weeks apart, with a late-season trip to Washington.
“The math ultimately settles Utah in as a very serious Pac-12 contender once more, but short of the overwhelming favorite status of the three teams ahead (in Jeyarajah’s rankings),” he wrote. “Road trips to Baylor, Oregon State and USC early in the season could decide the ceiling for this team in 2023, especially as quarterback Cameron Rising works his way back from a major knee injury.”
The most open league battle amongst the Power Five conferences, at least in Jeyarajah’s eyes, comes from the Big 12 — he lists Kansas State as fifth-most likely to repeat as league champions.
The Wildcats, who beat then-unbeaten TCU in the Big 12 championship game last year, were picked to finish second in the league in this year’s preseason media poll, released Thursday.
Texas was projected to win, according to media that cover the conference. BYU, one of four new teams joining the Big 12 this season, was picked to finish 11th.
“The Wildcats will be right back in the Big 12 championship mix in coach Chris Klieman’s fifth season, but it’s not a home run after a magical 2022 campaign. The Wildcats lost three regular-season games along the way to the title game, including a nonconference shocker to the aforementioned (AAC defending champion Tulane) Green Wave,” Jeyarajah wrote.
“More importantly, dynamic playmakers Deuce Vaughn, Malik Knowles and Felix Anudike-Uzomah are off to the NFL. The baseline of talent will give Kansas State an extremely high floor, but playmakers need to emerge for the Wildcats to compete for the conference.”