My thoughts on the big xii

[ALUF]

These are my rankings of how I think the teams will finish from last to first, would love to hear peoples thoughts on each team as well.

Arizona- couldn’t do much with fifita and tmac in the second year under Brennan, can’t imagine it being better without t Mac? I think they regress heavily and hard to pick sure wins for them this year

Colorado-no sanders or the heisman trophy winner. Salter I think is the starter and I understand they should be more balanced with shedeaur gone? Maybe. Who knows, tough schedule keeps them down as well. Coach prime is an awesome promoter but won’t coach to a big xii title as he couldn’t get it done with probably one of the best players ever last year

Oklahoma state- who the hell is playing qb there? I realize AnuSU was picked last year with similar sentiments and Mike Gundy doesn’t usually do as bad as he did last year but what do they have? The only they have is great coaching at the top and solid coaches for the D. Lets see if they dramatically improve. Would benefit by getting retzlaff I believe

Cincinnati- group of 5 team imo, I think they have a good qb this year?

UCF- same as OSU, would benefit from retzlaff as they have nobody at qb right now. Frost is back and he only went unbeaten with this program once before and got a self proclaimed natty. Cool. Let’s see if they bring back there former glory

Houston- I like Willie Fritz and I believe weighman will be solid at qb. Still G5ish to me though

West Virginia- the return of rich rod where he was truly his best and was a play or two away from a natty appearance back in the late 2000s. I think they will be a tough out at home but lack rich rod guys to get to the top

TCU- Josh Hoover is a great qb imo, doesn’t run the ball well from what I’ve seen but is solidly just good. Should be a tough D and tough out

Utah- dampier must stay healthy period. If Wilson or fickljn end up starting multiple games. Then we have another disappointing year. Oline is brutally good. The defense will be tough to score on if the offense just is at all competent. Parker and Rodgers in the backfield will be sweet! I’m excited about the receivers we have but concerned about no clear number one. My only concern on d is the lack of a sure thing on the DT spots and of our corners are able to shut down heavy pass atttacks

Arizona state- how the hell are they the favorites when their team, skattebo, left for the nfl? I believe that while leavitt and Tyson are good players, they also benefited from loaded boxes. I mean Utah bout damn near beat them with a broken rising on the road. This team will be tough as they have an ok replacement at rb and a pretty tough defense but they regresse from last year.

Texas tech- funny how they have become the villain recently with nil. #2 portal class, awesome coach and what should be a good offense. They will be tough and in the running at the end

Kansas- Daniels I guess was playing hurt most of last year according to a KU fan I listened to at work? If that’s the case, a healthy Daniels will be a tough out. They did beat a lot of the top teams in last years big xii.

Iowa state- Matt Campbell and Rocco becht are together again along with the OC. Should be in the mix again for the big xii title game.

Byu-provo – retzlaff is gone and so is batty as well as Marion but this team will be a tough team to beat. They have a favorable schedule and retzlaff wasn’t the reason for their success last year. Just a crazy good jay hill defense. Lj Martin, chase Roberts and Kingston are weapons. Tanuvasa if healthy is a load as we know. They have good linebackers and dbs. I believe hillstead is good enough to keep the offense a float.

K state- this is my first team in the title game. Avery Johnson is back again and will be more equipped to lead a full year as the starter, the running back is good, defense is good. A couple tough games on the schedule but I predict them to be in Dallas in December

Baylor- if Aranda doesn’t get close to making the title game he should be gone. They were very good down the stretch of last year and sawyer Robertson is good enough to win games for Baylor. Very favorable schedule for them. I think they beat k-state in Dallas

Would love to hear thoughts on each of the teams from fellow Ute fans. For the record, my floor for Utah is another 5-7 team where we get riddled with injuries/becks offense doesn’t click properly. 9-3 is my actual prediction with losses at West Virginia, Baylor and Kansas. 12-0 obviously is my ceiling but I think it’s a legit ceiling as this team has the opportunity to be very very good with nearly all our tough games at home. Surely the injury bug won’t bite 3 straight years right?….right????

[PhiladelphiaUte]

I think Utah gets back into a respectable postseason game again (e.g., the Alamo, Texas, Pop-Tarts, Liberty, or Sun bowls), but we’ll be seeing Baylor and Iowa St in the title game.

GO UTES!!!

[Rick]

Wow – terrific breakdown ALUF,

I think Baylor gets us and one of BYU or Kansas. If healthy, this team can be 10-2 and in the title game with 9-3 a possibility. If injuries mount again I don’t see 5-7 as the basement. I think Beck’s offense is creative enough but without too much complexity that we’ll be all right offensively regardless of injury. There are also a lot of play makers on offense that Beck can turn to. I say 7-5 as a floor and 11-1 as a ceiling.

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