Where Utah basketball ranks in notable metrics following loss to Arizona State

Checking in on where the Runnin' Utes stand after absorbing home loss to the Sun Devils

Utah Runnin' Utes guard Don McHenry (3) is second on the team in scoring at 18.1 points per game. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

A long first-season as head coach of his alma mater continued for Alex Jensen on Wednesday.

After trailing by double-digits for a majority of the night, Utah (9-13, 1-8 Big 12) dropped to 1-9 in their last 10 games with a 71-63 loss to Arizona State at the Huntsman Center.

Everything that had plagued the Runnin' Utes throughout nonconference and Big 12 play was on full display against the Sun Devils, who entered the contest having won one road game all season prior to Wednesday. From inconsistent effort on the defensive end to looking disjointed offensively, it once again appeared as if the Runnin' Utes refused to shift into high gear, opting to remain in the same neutral position as they began the 2025-26 campaign in.

The lack of progression in many areas — rebounding, intensity and above all, selflessness — has Utah squatting in a 1-8 start in league play for just the second time this century (2021-22). As if the Big 12 wasn't already a gauntlet, it's unforgiving to teams that fail to improve over the course of a season, which isn't great news for a Utah squad that still has to face Kansas, Houston, UCF and Iowa State before it wraps up the regular season in March.

Here's a look at where the Runnin' Utes stand nationally in rankings from notable college basketball metrics websites.

Utah on pace for worst KenPom ranking in 14 seasons

As of Thursday, Utah checks in as the No. 126-ranked team in the country on KenPom.com, a reputable college basketball analytics website that stores data dating back to the 1996-97 campaign. No other Big 12 member falls outside the top 100, with the next-closest being Kansas State at No. 92.

At their current pace, the Runnin' Utes are on track to finish the season with the program's worst KenPom ranking since 2011-12, when they came in at No. 302 nationally to end Larry Krystkowiak's first go-around as the head coach. Needless to say, Utah struggled adjusting to the Pac-12 as it trudged its way to a 6-25 overall record, including 3-15 in conference play.

The Pac-12 was formidable that season, though the 2025-26 edition of the Big 12 has proven to be a different beast entirely. Over one-quarter of KenPom's top 25 consists of schools in the league, starting with undefeated Arizona (22-0) at No. 1 and ending with a talented Texas Tech team (No. 22) that boasts wins over Duke and Houston on its résumé.

Having to wrangle with some of the best teams in the nation on a weekly basis probably hasn't helped Utah's metrics much, if at all, but the Runnin' Utes certainly aren't without blame, either. A majority of their glaring decencies reside on the defensive end, where they rank outside the top-200 in 3-point field goal percentage (No. 229) and 2-point field goal percentage (No. 259), as well as block rate (No. 243), steal rate (No. 287), turnover rate (No. 329) and overall adjusted efficiency (No. 231).

Utah's put up better numbers offensively, though not by enough to outweigh what it lacks defensively. The Runnin' Utes are No. 81 in adjusted offensive efficiency and rank No. 45 nationally in 3-point percentage (36.5%), as well as No. 99 in turnover rate (15.8%).

Runnin' Utes last in Big 12 NET Rankings

The NET rankings serve as the primary sorting tool for Division I men's basketball and play an important role in establishing a team's résumé for NCAA Tournament seeding purposes. It accomplishes that goal by quantifying wins and losses into a quadrant system, with Quad 1 games being the highest-quality a team can play and Quad 4 being the lowest. And unlike KenPom, which uses predictive-based metrics, the NET orders teams based solely on their body of work.

As if Utah's record wasn't already an indicator the Runnin' Utes won't be getting an at-large bid on Selection Sunday, their NET ranking of No. 131 certainly points to that being the case. Especially with the proverbial "cut-off" for at-large teams being around the No. 40-50 mark, the Runnin' Utes would need to go on an incredible run in the Big 12 tournament in order to get into the field of 68.

Utah's sub-100 ranking in the NET largely has to do with its lack of high-quality wins. The Runnin' Utes are 0-6 in Quad 1 games, which are categorized as any home contests against a team ranked between No. 1-30, road games against No. 1-75 and neutral site games against No. 1-50. Kansas State is the only other Big 12 team without a Quad 1 win to this point, though the Wildcats are 4-2 in Quad 2 scenarios (Utah is 2-6).

If Utah doesn't take advantage of some of the opportunities it has in front of it to bolster its standing, the Runnin' Utes could drop below the program's worst-ever finish in the NET (No. 133 in 2021-22) by season's end.