Kyle Whittingham’s Utah football program will start the 2024 season ranked No. 12 in The Associated Press top 25.
The preseason AP rankings were released Monday morning, and the Utes came in as the top team in the Big 12.
The Big 12 had five teams in the preseason media poll, with Oklahoma State at No. 17, Kansas State at No. 18, Arizona at No. 21 and Kansas at No. 22.
It’s the sixth straight season Utah has been ranked in the AP preseason poll.
The highest the Utes have been in the preseason poll was No. 7 in 2022.
Last year, Utah started the season ranked No. 14 in the preseason poll. The Utes were ranked the majority of the year until a 42-18 loss at Arizona — Utah’s third loss in four games as injuries piled up — knocked them out of the poll for good.
The Utes finished the 2023 campaign with an 8-5 record.
The renewed optimism for 2024 centers around getting seventh-year quarterback Cameron Rising back after he, along with star tight end Brant Kuithe, missed the 2023 season due to injury.
Now, the Utes are the unquestioned favorites in the Big 12 — they are the top league team in both the preseason AP and coaches poll (which was released last week and had Utah at No. 13), as well as the conference’s media preseason poll that came out in July.
The AP top five teams are Georgia at No. 1, Ohio State at No. 2, Oregon at No. 3, Texas at No. 4 and Alabama at No. 5.
Defending national champion Michigan is No. 9.