How comeback win over Kansas State impacted Utah football's ranking in the coaches poll

Utes kept their postseason aspirations alive with 12-point fourth quarter rally against the Wildcats

Utah Utes tight end JJ Buchanan (81) makes a catch against Kansas State Wildcats cornerback Amarion Fortenberry (0) during the first half at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

A wild rally to fend off Kansas State at home helped Utah hold steady in the US LBM Coaches Poll heading into an all-important Week 14 slate for deciding several conference championship races.

After coming back down 12 points in the fourth quarter to escape with a 51-47 win over the Wildcats, the Utes (9-2, 6-2 Big 12) once again check in at No. 14 in Sunday's coaches poll, the same position they held the week prior.

Utah received 774 points from the 60-person panel, slotting right in between fellow College Football Playoff hopefuls No. 13 Miami (781) and No. 15 Michigan (683).

Why it matters

The coaches poll doesn't have a direct impact on the College Football Playoff rankings, but it can be a pseudo-indicator of what the selection committee cooks up on Tuesday, especially when considering only one top 15 team from the previous coaches poll lost in Week 13 (No. 12 Georgia Tech was defeated, 42-28, by unranked Pitt).

As such, there wasn't much shake up near the top of the coaches poll. Nos. 1-11 were unchanged from the previous week, while the Yellow Jackets' loss allowed Vanderbilt and Miami to leapfrog Utah in the standings and claim the No. 12 and No. 13 spots, respectively. Georgia Tech shuffled in at No. 19, just ahead of No. 20 USC, though still had a shot at playing for the ACC championship going into its rivalry game with Georgia (Friday 1:30 p.m., ESPN).

The most important results as it pertained to Utah's postseason hopes resided in the Big 12, where Texas Tech and BYU remained at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the league standings after the Cougars slugged out a 26-14 victory over Cincinnati. That, along with the Utes' come-from-behind win, would've clinched BYU a spot in the conference title game had it not been for Arizona State, which stayed alive in the hunt by beating Colorado on the road, 42-17.

As dominoes fell around the league, one scenario that had the Utes punching their ticket to Arlington, Texas, remained: Utah would need to take care of business against Kansas (Friday 10 a.m. MT, ESPN) plus have BYU defeat UCF; Arizona State beat Arizona; and (perhaps the most unlikely outcome of them all) West Virginia pull off an upset over Texas Tech.

Houston dropped out of Big 12 contention and the coaches poll with a 17-14 loss to TCU, creating room for Pitt and SMU at the tail end of the top 25 rankings. Arizona State (86), Arizona (30) and Houston (22) were among a group of 13 teams that received votes but were still left on the outside looking in.

Coaches Poll Top 25 (post-Week 13)

1. Ohio State (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) [61 first-place votes
2. Indiana (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten)
3. Texas A&M (11-0, 8-0 SEC) [2]
4. Georgia (10-1, 7-1 SEC)
5. Oregon (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten)
6. Ole Miss (10-1, 6-1 SEC)
7. Texas Tech (10-1, 7-1 Big 12)
8. Oklahoma (9-2, 5-2 SEC)
9. Notre Dame (9-2)
10. Alabama (9-2, 6-1 SEC)
11. BYU (10-1, 7-1 Big 12)
12. Vanderbilt (9-2, 5-2 SEC)
13. Miami (9-2, 5-2 ACC)
14. Utah (9-2, 6-2 Big 12)
15. Michigan (9-2, 7-1 Big Ten)
16. Texas (8-3, 5-2 SEC)
17. Virginia (9-2, 6-1 ACC)
18. Tennessee (8-3, 4-3 SEC)
19. Georgia Tech (9-2, 6-2 ACC)
20. USC (8-3, 6-2 Big Ten)
21. James Madison (10-1, 7-0 Sun Belt)
22. North Texas (10-1, 6-1 AAC)
23. Tulane (9-2, 6-1 AAC)
24. Pitt (8-3, 6-1 ACC)
25. SMU (8-3, 6-1 ACC)

Schools Dropped Out

No. 21 Missouri, No. 24 Houston

New to the poll this week

No. 24 Pitt, No. 25 SMU

Others Receiving Votes

Arizona State 86, Navy 58, Washington 39, Missouri 32, Iowa 32, Arizona 30, San Diego State 29, Houston 22, Penn State 4, Illinois 4, UConn 4, UNLV 2, South Florida 1