#17

[Hellhound152]

Number 17 in the final CFP rankings.  Clearly the #3 team in the Pac12, division champs.  The Bowl wizards will have to explain ignoring the number next to the game if the Holiday passes on the Utes!

[RUUTES]

yep. Though it seems like ESPN and the Committee is systematically dissing the PAC 12. WSU at 13? Behind LSU and Penn State? Just enough to push them out of an NY1 in favor of a 9-3 east coast team…nothing smelly going on here..nope…

Still happy the Utes stayed in the top 20!

17 gives us some credibility going into next year. And does once again argue for a better bowl (even if we don’t get it)

[Trailgoat]

Conference goes where USC goes. Utah needs to keep beating USC. Don’t be surprised if Utah is not ranked at the start of the 2019 season. I will not be surprised if USC, UW, and Oregon are ranked a head of Utah. WSU will not be ranked. Not crying foul…just is what is. Utah is in the Pitt, NorthWestern, Iowa State, bucket.

[tarheelute]

Will see. Depends on how well Utah and Oregon does in their bowl games.  A good win by Utah over Pitt, Northwestern, UVA, Boston College, whoever, and the Utes will be ranked at 19 or 20 starting next year.  Who cares about the others.  Then its a matter of improving on this year, no easy task, regardless in our schedule.

Actually, I believe the Utes play better, with a chip on their shoulder.  

[RUUTES]

Looks like Texas was guaranteed the spot since UO went to the playoff. My bad…though WSU vs UCF would have been a fun Fiesta Bowl. Then Texas could have played LSU or something.

[St George Ute]

Beat me by 7 Seconds! Nice! 🙂

I like the way you’re thinking. Hard to justify selecting a non-ranked Oregon over a top 20 Utah in my opinion. Hoping for the Holiday Bowl!

[Hellhound152]

Quick on the draw! haha

[User Suspended]

[Hellhound152]

Wouldn’t that be another fantastic black mark on the conference.  I would actually laugh if it happened because it would put the issues on full display with Dr. Hill in the wings ready to go toe to toe with Larry Scott.  

[ladyinred]

About a 10% the holiday bowl execs do the right thing? or is that too optimistic even? 

[EagleMountainUte]

Makes me think they didn’t view Utah’s final loss as a “bad” loss. 

[tarheelute]

Agreed, generally good comments – but what of their comment that Utah was the “antithesis” of Oklahoma?  

[Hellhound152]

Oklahoma = all offense, no defense.  Utah = all defense, no offense.  By definition they are the antithesis of one another.  Not a slight, just a statement of fact.

[EagleMountainUte]

Injuries got Utah to that point offensively. In the Big12 you simply don’t play defense. Fact. 

[Hellhound152]

And the analysts fairly pointed out Utah’s injuries on offense in the discussion.  It wasn’t a slight, it was a fair observation of the current state of the team.  No one can deny that even in the wins down the stretch the offense has not been as effecient as it was with the starters.

[tarheelute]

I suppose I should thankyou for the vocab lesson. So thanks. On the other hand not sure the Utes are the “antithesis” of Oklahoma. A quick look at ESPNs Team Efficiency numbers has Utah rank 41st on offense and 13th on defense, whereas Oklahoma is 2nd on offense and 91st on defense. The total teams assessed are 130. If Utah had been ranked at 91st on offense (delta of 40) I would agree with your point. But a delta of 40, not so much. Utah had a far better offense then Oklahoma’s defense. But now lets compare against the competition Oklahoma 6th, Utah 20th – okay perhaps that explains the delta, but not decisive. How about intent. It is debatable whether Utah has a real intent to turn itself into a offensive powerhouse, certainly at the expense of its defensive prowess. On the other hand, looks like Oklahoma gave up on defense altogether. Nope. I do not believe Oklahoma is the antithesis of Utah, just seems that way on occasion, when Utah’s offense suffers as it did against UW.

[Hellhound152]

If you want to read between the lines on a throw away comment by a national pundit to be offended on behalf of the Utes that is your deal.  I can assure you that you put 120% more effort into the research on your post that any of the analysts did prior to throwing out the comment.  Agree to disagree I suppose.  Go Utes!

[Warrior Ute]

This seems like last game bias.

During PAC 12 season play we averaged over 30 ppg.  Not astronomical numbers, but also not the antithesis of an all offense team.