Utah Football has made it clear that they believe they should be able to run through the Big 12 and be the most dominant team. While there is nothing wrong, or even uncommon, about being confident and shooting to be the best, the way that Utah has done it has been nothing short of cocky and borderline arrogant.
This has put them in a spot where they better back up their talk or they won’t hear the end of it.
Utah Football Fanbase Unhappy to be in Big 12
Of course I am not speaking about every individual fan when I say this, but if you get on social media the clear narrative and belief around Utah being in the Big 12 is negative. Here are some of the more common storylines.
- Utah is by far the biggest brand in the Big 12. It’s embarrassing to be in the Mountain West 2.0
- The Pac-12 was so much better than the Big 12. Now, with Cam Rising, a 12-0 season or 11-1 at worst should be expected.
- Utah should and likely will be in the Big 10 in a few years.
If you don’t think those are common beliefs, type in “Utah Football – Big 12” in any search bar and you will see post after post expressing these feelings. And it isn’t just the fans.
Kyle Whittingham Suggests Utah is Too Big for Big 12
Last year, Utah Football Coach Kyle Whittingham sat down with ESPN and was asked how he felt about being in the same conference as rival BYU. He shared the following:
“I think in 2-3, maybe 5 years on the outside, everything is gonna change again. And so this may be just a quick couple years of the game [Utah v. BYU] returning, and then everything is blown up again and people go their separate ways.”
When Whittingham says this, he is not referring to BYU moving to a bigger conference and Utah staying in the Big 12. He is referring to the opposite. Since then, he has walked back that comment to an extent and said he is happy to be in the Big 12, but the message was still given, creating a narrative around the program.
Utah Has Nothing to Gain, Everything to Lose
The stage has been set. Utah has come into the conference claiming they are ready to dominate, be so good, and get an invite from the Big 10. Anything less than a conference championship would be a bad season for the Utes. The narrative has been set, and there is very little that they can do to change that. They have, in a sense, become the target of the conference, not to the extent that Texas was, but they are certainly going to get everyone’s best game.
Utah also has a very easy schedule. They avoid Kansas, Kansas State, and West Virigina, three of the top five hardest opponents they could face. They also host Arizona. The only tough road game they face all year is against Oklahoma State. On the flipside, they play five of the bottom six projected teams in the conference.
If Utah does anything but make it to the Playoff, they will not hear the end of it from the rest of the Big 12. If Utah is a middle-of-the-pack team, they will immediately be put in a place where they would mocked at the level that Kansas was for over a decade when they rarely won more than a game or two.
The Utes kickoff their season Southern Utah on August 29th.
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