What’s this!? Southern Cal is not expected to be in? That’s a shame.
Question is what will the Second Rounds take in that scenario.
Sugar and Peach will go to Georgia and Clemson (Georgia Peach most likely). Will the Rose take the Big 1G rivalry rematch/ND vs Buckeyes or the Big 1G vs Big XII matchup.
(12) Liberty at (5) Oregon
Winner advances to play (4) Utah
(10) Notre Dame at (7) Michigan
Winner advances to play (2) Ohio State
Pate also has Utah:
Big 12 will be very competitive. Utah, KSU, Arizona and OSU are obvious contenders but Kansas will be competitive as well. ISU has a heckuva coach and could cause problems. WVU Baylor & TCU always have potential. Finally at some point Colorado could capitalize on the talent they’ve been hoarding. Gonna be a wild first year ride.
From The Athletic tonight, #8 among their top 25 college coaches:
8. Kyle Whittingham, Utah (2023: No. 9)
A noted tough guy, Whittingham always fields teams molded in his image. The Utes are physical, relentless and never to be underestimated. His teams are 39-16 over the past full four seasons, and the Utes have beaten USC three times in the past two years.[Note: it’s four consecutive times.]
Someone should tell them it’s actually four times in three years. But who’s counting?
Yeah, I wondered where he got that number.
That was Bruce Feldman’s ranking. The Atlantic’s Stewart Mandell has him at #5.
Kyle Whittingham, Utah (2023: No. 8)
I give last year’s disappointing 8-5 campaign an asterisk due to the Utes’ staggering number of injuries. Whittingham has achieved remarkable consistency at a non-obvious school. Utah won back-to-back Pac-12 Championships in 2021 and ’22 and has fielded six Top 25 teams in the last decade. The Utes are well-positioned to win in the Big 12.
Maybe we should change the state motto to “Utah, non-obvious”