Utah comes in at #10 in the final AP poll.

[UteFanatic]

Disappointing loss in the Rose Bowl, but I am pretty damn content with a conference championship and final AP top 10 ranking.

Most of our best guys are returning next year. It’s a great time to be a Ute fan.

[PhiladelphiaUte]

How is Texas still ranked at 8-5?  The only team they’d beaten this year was #14 Kansas St.  I’m sorry, but if you’re a 5-loss team, you’re going to have needed to beat a minimum of 3 final ranked teams to make a case you deserve to be ranked.  Boise St deserved to be ranked more than Texas.  And if you must have an 8-5 team to take the last spot, Texas Tech and Ole’ Miss were both more deserving than the Longhorns.

[prestitute]

We were a 4 loss team with a couple of stinkers. I don’t have too much of an issue of a ranked 5 loss team with the losses being to mostly top 25 teams. 

[Ute95]

The Utes really have come a long way as far as national respect is concerned. Ending up at #10 with four losses and ahead of blue blood programs Florida State, USC and Clemson with three losses each. Throw in Oregon at #15 with three losses which was a team we lost to. Not too shabby. It goes to show how important an early high ranking is. 

Anyways, it was a good year with an unexpected conference championship after the loss to Oregon and a Rose Bowl appearence.  

[ProudUte]

I agree.  We have come a long way.  Back-to-back top-ten finishes for the first time in history shows how far we have come.

I believe we will start the season in the top-ten.  We have most of our studs coming back outside of Kincaid and Philips.  We have some great players coming in from the portal and our best recruiting class ever.  I don’t want to be in the early final four discussions.  We need to earn that and we have the tough schedule to do that.  Looking at it today, our 2023 schedule is the toughest we have ever had (of course that can change).  Six of the teams on our schedule may be ranked in the top 25 to begin the season with only two games that may be considered gimmes.  To be a top-five team – we have to avoid the bone-headed games and deliver every week.  I am not sure we have the depth to do that.

 

 

[PhiladelphiaUte]

We didn’t finish in the Top-10 last year.  So not back-to-back.

[RoboUte]

I think it really comes down to the fact that a loss in the rose bowl isn’t really judged as harshly as most others. Our worst loss was against an absolutely garbage Florida and we’re lucky it was 4 months ago

[Ute95]

The final Jeff Sagarin ranking has Utah even higher at #7. One ahead of Texas (5 losses) and two ahead of TCU. It just goes to show how different the computers view each school/team v. the human element. They are both important, however, I take more stock in the Sagarin.

Given what Utah is coming back with, the 2023 team should be highly respected and very competitive (the key: stay healthy). That is all I’m going to say about this coming season because Utah’s schedule is bruuuuuutal.

[Ute95]

It’s interesting how Sagarin has the PAC 12 teams ranked v. the A.P. No take on this. I’m just distributing the information.

A.P.

#8 Washington

#10 Utah

#12 USC

#15 Oregon

#17 Oregon State

#21 UCLA

Sagarin

#7 Utah

#12 Oregon State

#13 Washington

#15 Oregon (same as A.P.)

#18 USC

#28 UCLA

#43 Washington State

[AlaskaSteveUteAlum]

The difference is that the AP poll is a biased poll that is biased against teams outside major media markets. The Sagarin rankings are more objective. The fact that the Utes are as high as they are in the final AP poll is because they beat an AP darling, USC, twice. Texas’ ranking also reflects their position as an AP darling, more than their achievement.

[dystopiamembrane]

Washington is the highest ranked Pac-12 team.

[UteFanatic]

They finished stronger and won their bowl game, so I don’t have a problem with that

[dystopiamembrane]

I don’t have a problem with it either. 🙂

[Charlie]

Washington did benefit from not playing the 2 best teams in the Pac making it difficult to compare them to teams that did.

[UteFanatic]

It is difficult to compare when the schedules aren’t the same. Rankings are definitely not an exact science. They also lost to ASU, which is nothing short of shameful. To their credit, they did look very solid by the end of the season and look poised to have a great season in 23.

[RoboUte]

To say we fell short in the rose bowl is a *bit* of an understatement but for how good this team really was a top 10 finish is remarkable. This is very positive for the program and the proof is in the recruiting pudding.

[UteFanatic]

My characterization was that it was a “disappointing loss”. No two ways about it. It was a crappy game and Utah was beaten soundly. But, taking the entirety of the season into consideration, I can’t find much to complain about. 

 

[Uphoric]

If it’s a complaint, it’s injuries, and it’s not an indictment. . .  Just think how different it would have been had everybody been able to play.  6 or 7 starters were out (1 OL, 2 RBs, 2 TEs, 1 CB at least, 1 WR). I am not sure we could have sustained in prior years. 

[Charlie]

We fell short, however, imagine any other Pac team losing their QB and trying to win the Rose Bowl. Imagine PSU losing their QB. Most often it is a disaster to lose a key player in a big game. Rose Bowl aside, Utah has been very good the past 2 years.

[2008 National Champ]

While it’s always great to have your accomplishments recognized, going .500 against ranked teams doesn’t usually scream TOP TEN. The USC effect is real