Utes back in the top ten. Do we deserve to be there?

[ProudUte]

First off – I respect those who say we do belong in the top ten and those who say we don’t. It’s just an opinion. It doesn’t make you less of a Ute fan because you have some doubts. My two cents.

We deserve to be there because of the team we have been the last five years and we are 3-0 this season. I think only Colorado and Utah have beaten two P5 teams so far this year.

I don’t think we are the tenth-best college football team (at least not yet). We have not played like a top-25 team IMO. However, I counted twelve significant players who did not play yesterday (Whitt says 15-16). Regardless, when your offense is playing without QB1, WR1 and WR2, TE1, Center1, and RB1.5 – you will likely have some struggles.

If we get healthy (outside Bernard) could we be a top-ten team? I would say yes, that is possible. But, I don’t know because we have not seen the entire offense play together yet.

At this point, I do not know what to believe as far as players returning to the field. We keep hearing soon, but …

So, what say you? Are we a top-ten team?

[alexsmith]

I’d say that what backs us up is the fact the Florida is currently ranked after their win yesterday and realistically could win their next 4

[Hellhound152]

If not we then who? No. 11 lost to a team the Utes manhandled. FSU and Texas escaped against not top 25 teams. Others have yet to play a team with a pulse, looking at you Big10 three (I guess Penn State beat WVU whose coach is paying the hourly rate at the Best Western because he already sold his house). Congrats to USC whose best win is over a team that has a win over a bad FCS team thus far. So outside of Notre Dame and Washington who have looked the part and Georgia who looks bored where are these world beaters?
Every year we get this “man, we sure don’t look like a top 10 team” but alas we seem to spend a lot of time there and have rarely underperformed our preseason rankings.

[Utah5410]

This. Same Story Every Year. Beat Teams, Don’t Look pretty, resume is amazing, but, we don’t think Pretty and people question.

[PhiladelphiaUte]

FWIW, Florida cracked the AP’s Top-25, so in that regard, we HAD beaten a ranked opponent.

Now it remains to be seen if the Gators manage to REMAIN in that poll. And it’s not likely they’ll be challenged very much next week when they host UNC-Charlotte Saturday evening, so I wouldn’t expect them to lose their spot in next week’s poll.

Like you, I don’t know yet, if we’re a “bonafide” Top-10 team, but we’ve definitely made a case for it. Especially considering the fact that we have yet to field a team with fewer than 9 starters out.

[prestitute]

I think, just like most teams, we are being ranked on what we are when healthy, and the fact we are 2-0 v P5 and 1-0 vs T25 with about half our studs out indicates that, when healthy, we likely belong.

[Central Coast Ute]

My thoughts mirror yours almost exactly. I think if Rising comes back, the Utes have a shot to be top 10. Add the injured DL players and i’d say it’s a lock. Had FL been blown out by TN, I’d say the Utes do not deserve to be there, but now it appears to be an even better win for the Utes, regardless of what DJ has to say about it.

[Central Coast Ute]

FWIW, the AP has the Utes at 11 while the coaches are 10

[EagleMountainUte]

Utah pretty much dominated Florida at home. That is the reason Utah is being raised up.
It is ranking logic.

[22Ute22]

I don’t think so. This is one of those weird cases where despite having impressive wins, we aren’t a top team at the moment. It’s incredibly impressive that we bullied Florida with so many missing starters. It was impressive to beat a P5 team on the road on a 130 degree field with a 3rd and 4th string QB. However, we still have to judge a team by how good they are at the moment. Even if we beat UCLA and OSU without Cam Rising, I would be hesitant to say Utah is a top 10 team, because those would probably be ugly wins.

Hopefully we get Cam Rising back at near 100% health soon, because we can be a top 10 or even top 6 team with him and Kuithe.

[EagleMountainUte]

“Probably be ugly wins”

Who cares? Win is a win.
Also creating a fictional straw man argument to protect your opinion makes little sense.

If Utah won ugly every game this season and punched a ticket to the CFP I wouldn’t care. Just like I don’t care about 2008 and it was only a MWC schedule. Win. That’s all that matters.

[Mule]

Yes, we belong there. There are a lot of teams that are 3-0, but not many that have really played anyone yet.

[Ute2]

Agreed. In SOS up to this point are we 1? 2? Top 5?

With that and 3-0 the. Yup.

[Tednab]

… we’re 3-0 playing our 2nd 3rd and 4th string players .. we’ve beaten two quality opponents, one on the road .. most people had us splitting the Florida Baylor even with Cam playing.

[Roy Rangum]

I think we deserve the ranking we currently have.

Do I think we’ll stay where we are if Cam never comes back? I sure don’t. But if Cam does come back sooner than later and is playing healthy, I think we’re a team that will hang with any other top 10 team, and my fingers are crossed we’ll do more than just hang.

[AlohaUte]

Our defense alone makes us Top-20. And we have a solid enough offense with Johnson coming along. Honestly, I look at those teams just behind us in the rankings and there aren’t many that I think are better, maybe on par, but not better. I’d say probably Alabama and maybe Oregon, but Bama doesn’t deserve to be higher with the way they’ve played. So I’m very comfortable with the Utes at 10.

[UtMtBiker]

Probably. Ratings are largely based on the previous season and at this point in the year, that’s about all you can do. The FL win over Tenn. Was a nice boost and our defense is solid so far. I think it’s deserved as of now but don’t expect it to last unless we find some offense. Even if our defense holds the top offenses in the p12 to 70% of their average, which historically is excellent, we’d still be giving up approx.350yrs passing and 2.8 TD and 125 yrds rushing with 1.2 TD. Throw in a couple FGs here and there and giving up 31 points would be a really good defensive showing against UW, USC, OU, OSU. Hard to see this offense putting up 32+ against those teams. This week will show were we really are.

[BoiseUTE]

My question is why/how come Oregon jumps the Utes in the polls. They have not played anyone and just put a bunch of style points up on high school teams I guess that means a lot for the voters.

[2008 National Champ]

Utah’s preseason ranking was based on them being able to produce similar numbers as 2022. Through 3 games, they haven’t been able to on offense while other teams around them have validated their expectations.

With every passing week, a nebulous “but they’ll finally be a good offense when Rising gets back” becomes harder to justify and should Utah lose a game, they’ll fall even farther than anticipated. Remember, weekly polls are more validation for previous opinions than a true picture of current value. Otherwise, when a highly ranked team loses, those behind them would not just move up one spot in lockstep. There would also be a lot more movement week to week based on how teams were actually performing instead of how they were expected to perform.

[CityCreekUte]

being Xth ranked != being Xth best.

We deserve the ranking probably even higher given SOS.

No idea where we fit in terms of being the best. AP/Coaches don’t really measure that anyway.

Only the playoff rankings that don’t come out until later in the year when teams are a little more known really even try to do it and it’s still a lot of a beauty pageant.

[AllInUteFan]

After 3 weeks with few notable games, polls are based more on conjecture than fact. There are always a handful of teams that start off highly ranked and end up unranked.
With that, Utah has as good of an argument as anyone to be in the top ten in week 3. I see the ranking as a confirmation that the Ute football program is gaining consistent nation respect.