FB: Utah checks into the top-25 in NCAA preseason rankings
With COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, shutting down NCAA athletics for the foreseeable future, the news cycle has been slow to say the least.
While most outlets have been looking towards the past to produce content, the NCAA website went a different route. On Friday, March 20, NCAA.com released its 2020 college football preseason rankings.
While the top-5 was relatively unsurprising, one surprise was that Utah found itself on the list — checking in at No. 22.
"The Utes could have made the College Football Playoff. But a blowout loss to Oregon in the Pac-12 title game and then another blowout loss to Texas in the Alamo Bowl added a sour taste to the 2019 season. Now QB Tyler Huntley, RB Zack Moss, DE Bradlee Anae, and others standouts (like in the secondary) have to be replaced. South Carolina transfer QB Jake Bentley could take control. But coach Kyle Whittingham has won at least nine games in five of the last six seasons," is what the website had to say about the Utes.
Utah does have a significant number of issues to address, most notably at the quarterback position and in the secondary as noted above, but it won't be solving those issues anytime soon.
With the NCAA shutting down spring sports, that includes Utah's spring practice — yet the spring game has yet to be canceled.
Oregon is the highest-rated Pac-12 team, checking in at No. 6, with the rankings saying this about the Ducks...
"It's going to be strange not seeing Justin Herbert at Oregon anymore. But besides that, the Ducks are loaded and will be the clear Pac-12 favorites. Though Tyler Shough is probably the leading candidate to take over as the starting quarterback, that position isn't set yet. But Oregon has Outland winner Penei Sewell and DE Kayvon Thibodeaux (nine sacks) ready to dominate."
USC and Arizona State also found itself in the rankings, checking in at No. 19 and No. 25 respectively — this should provide some big-time competition in the Pac-12's south division.
Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama, LSU and Georgia make up the top-5, with Oklahoma, Penn State, Florida and Auburn rounding out the top-10 with Oregon.