Any Ute fan that thinks we’ll dominate the Big12 year one

[chinngiskhaan]

is probably certifiably mentally handicapped, and not because the Big12 is any good (it is, but that’s not the main problem).

If any of those clowns bothered to look at our roster they would realize we will have virtually all of our offensive production leaving after this year. Rising, JJ (unless he stays for one of two reasons), Bernard, Vele, Kuithe, Yassmin, at least our best OL… All bye bye after this season. That will leave us with an unproven QB, RB, WR, TE, and OL. Basically, all these guys we’ve had stick around forever because of COVID are finally going to be moving on after this season. We’ll be going from a team full of super seniors (how the hell is jackson still just a sophomore btw?) to an offense full of players who have never been the it guy on a college team.

Hell, Whitt might not even be around by then. If we somehow manage to win the Big12 after all that turnover, whoever the coach is deserves to national coach of the year.

[lgt4141]

Utah will be competitive in the Big 12 but to say they will dominate is a bit of a stretch.

[Yergensen]

There’s an interesting indicator to note here. Top programs in terms of recruiting rankings in the SEC, Big 10 and ACC are also the same teams regularly winning conference championships and going to the CFP (Bama, Georgia, Ohio St, Michigan, Clemson). Simply put, recruiting = wins. Before we even get to development, at which we are elite, look at our recruiting rankings of past 3 or so classes vs rest of Big 12. We have the best ranking. In the PAC12 we rank 4-5, in the Big 12 we rank 1, not by much, but we have a recruiting advantage that we never had in the PAC. Our development and other factors mitigated that gap and got us to the top the past 2 years. In the Big 12 we have advantages in both areas. Hubris aside, these are objective reasons why we should be successful in the Big 12. Will be exciting to see if it plays out.

[Onlyu]

There will be questions for sure…QB and TE most notably. Not saying we’ll dominate but a 4 year recruiting ranking that borders on a top 25 average and less than 10 Sr’s in the two deep means there is a good chance you return 75% of your experienced players depending on the draft.

You also have guys like Nate Ritchie, Justin Medlock,Money Parks and newcomers like Mathew’s, Lomu, the RB room and the Fano brothers that will be on the field. DL and Barton return…Snowden, Blocker, etc…the train keeps moving.

We’ll reload imo. This is a top 25 roster for the next 4 years. QB play is instrumental and that’s a question mark but plenty of young talent to play behind potentially our most talented OL’s in our history.

We’ll compete for the championship on Day 1…winning it is another matter altogether.

[chinngiskhaan]

I’m not suggesting we’ll stink or struggle or whatever, but we aren’t (likely) going to dominate. I think we’ll always be in the top third of the Big12 (unless poop hits the fan when Whitt retires, which I don’t think will happen). Winning the Big12 will always be a possibility, but I don’t think we will ever be less ready than our first year in the Big12, simply due to the crazy amount of roster turnover that will happen.

A lot of what happens next year depends on how things go down this year. If Rising get’s hurt or doesn’t heal properly (I already knocked on wood, relax) that would give Rose some valuable experience for next year. I suppose the same goes for any of the young guys behind our proven players.

[DataUte]

I agree that anyone thinking we will dominate ANY conference is certifiable. I don’t think any team dominates any conference almost ever. Even SEC teams have up and down years (sometimes that floor is still pretty high) but still struggle in some individual games.

I wouldn’t say we even dominated the PAC the last 2 years. Yes, we won the CCG, but sometimes we had to have everything right just to get there. The last time we ‘dominated’ was MWC with Alex Smith. But with healthy starters, we could have competed in any conference that year.

Will we be competitive (highly so)? I think so. Lots has to go right. Dominate (to me) is winning big against lesser opponents, leading most of the game against good opponents, and fighting it out to win against great opponents. That’s just so rare.

1st year in Big 12 (2024)? We will likely be in the top 3 probability to win, but every season brings challenges. Heck, just playing new teams and not knowing their personnel as well and tendencies (video can go so far), it’ll just be a change. It’ll be a change in road games (new locker rooms, hotels, fans).

So, I agree that we can’t go in thinking we’ll dominate, but that’s a little bit of a strawman as we should be really competitive, but very few teams ever dominate their conference – new or old member.

[Central Coast Ute]

I always cringe when I see Utah fans claim we’ll dominate. The Utes will be good and competitive for sure, but for the reasons you’ve laid out, they’re not going to dominate. Even if/when the Utes win the conference, they probably won’t dominate it.

[MacKidsAlumn]

If this were 2015, I would agree with your analysis. But in 2023, we have the transfer portal, and successful programs use it to restock lost talent. You mentioned losing TEs and Rising (QB). Our starting QB for next year might be at another program getting playing time this year. If the Utes are good this year, like we have been the last two years, they will have the chance to attract some good transfer players looking to level up and compete for a championship. The transfer portal has changed how rosters are built and how you forecast champion contenders.

[Tony (admin)]

Dominate? No. We are almost always competitive no matter who/where we play because of our disciplined, tough, defensive style.

[PlainsUte]

Not sure about next year, but, long term, I wonder if the Utes recruiting strategy needs to pivot, and fast. Seems that Utah has drawn talent from California and Nevada, but now tell a kid and his parents that they’ll be playing in the Central and Southern Plains, are they going to lose recruits? I suppose the recruits’ other options (USC, UCLA, Wash, Oregon will also be playing at far-flung places but at least Cal, USC, UCLA will have some home games in California. How is Utah set up to recruit Texas and the Plains?

[alexsmith]

To be fair, a lot of the best players in the country don’t play in their home state. CJ Stroud (California) was at Ohio State, Cam Rising (California) was originally committed to Oklahoma before flipping to Texas, Tyler Huntley and Zach Moss were both from Florida who were coming to play in Utah. Playing in front of your home state can be a good thing, but most good players just care about playing quality football so they can make a career out of it. That doesn’t necessarily have to happen where you live

[Anfernee]

The only people who are saying we will “dominate” from the start are CougarBoard created Ute troll accounts online. They are desperately fanning any negative flame they can create because of the now inevitable return of daddy.

[Tony (admin)]

That’s exactly the childish garbage I’ve enjoyed being away from and why I didn’t want to be in the same conference as the zoobs.

[2008 National Champ]

damn Tony, I wanted to give you a standing ovation gif but it wouldn’t let me paste it in. Are only youtube and twitter allowed?

[PhiladelphiaUte]

The zoobs on cougarboard have actually been bragging about their fake Ute twitter accounts, as they try to stir up animosity between us and our new conference’s fan base. I’m going to LOL at them once they figure out that this strategy will ultimately backfire on them, as…

1. Riling up the other fan bases will only ensure they’ll sell out their stadiums, and drive up our per-game Nielsen ratings.

2. Those fans will find out soon enough that all those myths zoob nation had been telling was really just themselves projecting their behavior onto us.

[UtahMan17]

This is a straw man argument. Who is saying we’ll dominate? Why do you invent things to argue about?

[Tony (admin)]

Zoob trolls pretending to be Ute fans to make us look bad.

[Central Coast Ute]

He’s not inventing it. It’s on Twitter and I’d imagine other sites too.

[The Miami Ute]

It’s doubtful that Utah can consistently dominate the Big 12 year in and year out. However, I will say this, if they can continue to recruit at the level they’ve been doing for the last few years and supplement that with key additions via the portal, it is a possibility. I can see a pathway for the Utes to become the new Oklahoma in that conference and dominate it like the Sooners did for extended periods of time.

[utefansince79]

One observation. First year in the PAC, with USC on probation, we had a chance to beat Colorado (who had a long road losing streak) and get into the first PAC12 title game. Colorado surprised us and late in the game, a fan nearby noted that Utah had adapted to playing PAC teams and had a fairly good showing but were now facing a BIG12 style team.

Next year we’re facing a few long time Big12 members (and also a few recent newcomers as well as some former PAC teams of course).

[2008 National Champ]

there will be 8 new teams by the time 2024 starts. it’s hard to draw conclusions on what, if any, style will be representative of the conference by that time

[EagleMountainUte]

I can’t wait until the AI bots get good enough that most people will eventually get to a place of not believing anything on the internet.

[2008 National Champ]

i thought we all hit that point around a decade ago

[UteFanatic]

No, I don’t think we’ll dominate. Recruiting rankings put Utah in the top 3 or 4 of the conference, and I think we have a top 3 or 4 coach in the league. So anything less than being in the top 5 regularly would be fairly disappointing.