A bright spot on a rough football weekend should be coming today.

More later…

In what turned out to be mostly a one-sided contest that the Utes surrendered early, Utah has effectively been eliminated from any shot at the Pac-12 title game, and for the first time since 2018 (not counting 2020), will not finish the season with double-digit wins.

Here are the takeaways from Utah’s 42-18 loss against Arizona:

The Utes had an impressive win over Wake Forest on the first round of the Charleston Classic:

Let’s get this thing rollin’… Utah will be without Cole Bishop today, but it’s nothing that will keep him out next week.

Let’s hear some predictions?

With two losses over the last three weeks, the Utes are essentially out of contention to secure a spot in the Pac-12 championship game. While it would take several more significant miracles to unfold over the next few weeks for Utah to find itself competing for a spot, the team will want to finish strong over these last two games.

First up, a formidable Arizona team with a 5-2 conference record that not only beat Oregon State, but nearly knocked off USC and Washington. Additionally, it’s a road game, something that’s been anything but easy for the Utes this season.

Here are the keys to the game:

Early Vegas lines this week. First, Utah-Arizona (AP rankings):

#16 Utah PICK @ #19 Arizona. You can get Utah by 1.5 or Arizona by 1, along with actual picks. Total is 44.5, so expected final is 23-22 one way or the other. As an aside, I'll be at this game, so hit me up if you want to say hello before or after.

Rest of the Pac-12:

#5 UW PICK @ #10 ORST. That's correct, you can bet UW as a -1 underdog to OSU this week (you can also bet OSU as a -1 underdog to UW). ORST is not quite as good on defense as Utah, but their offense is better. This is an upset they absolutely can get, which would make the Civil War a fight for the other CCG spot. Total is 64, so expected final is 33-32.
#6 UO -22.5 @ ASU. Total is 54, so expected final is 38-16. Oregon probably can set the score here.
CU +5.5 @ WSU. Total is 64, so expected final is 35-30. Honestly, take the over. Both scoring offenses are averaging ~30ppg, but CU is the #117 scoring defense and WSU is the #100 scoring defense. They also both give up yards in bunches, with CU #129 in total D and WSU #101. Seriously, the over is the only bet on this game.
UCLA +6.5 @ USC. Nice to see both of the conference destroyers are unranked and out of CCG contention (actually, USC still probably has some possible insane path, like Utah, but realistically it's over for everyone outside of UW/UO/OSU). Total is 66, so expected final is 36-30. Honestly, I'd be tempted by UCLA here, or the under, because USC is reeling and UCLA's defense is good.
Cal -6 @ Stanford. Total is 58, so expected final is 32-26. Cal is the only bet here, but I don't know for sure that they're 7 points better than Stanford.

Rest of the top 15:

#1 UGA -10 @ Tennessee. Total is 59, so expected final is 35-25.
#2 Michigan -19 @ Maryland. Total is 50, so expected final is 35-15.
Minnesota +27.5 @ #3 OSU. Total is 49, so expected final is 38-11.
N. Bama @ #4 FSU. No lines for FCS Games, even if played on November 18th, FSU you giant cowards.
#7 Texas -7.5 @ ISU. Total is 48, so expected final is 28-20. ISU is getting too much credit for beating a bad BYU team, I'd take Texas here.
Chattanooga @ #8 Bama . No lines for FCS games, even if played on November 18th, Bama you giant cowards.
#9 Louisville -2 @ Miami. Unlike the Utah/Arizona and UW/ORST games, this is actually Louisville favored slightly everywhere. Still, that's a tiny line, if Louisville deserves to be ranked, they'll beat Miami by more than this.
Florida +11 @ #11 Mizzou. Total is 59, so expected final is 35-24.
Rutgers +19 @ #12 Penn St. Total is 43, so expected score is 31-12. Rutgers is improved, I'd consider taking them here, but PSU's defense is very good. The under might be the bet here.
UL Monroe +36.5 @ #13 Ole Miss. Total is 62, so expected final is 49-13.
#14 OU @ BYU. 22 at home. Yikes.
GA ST +31 @ #15 LSU. Total is 71, so expected final is 51-20. I'd probably take GA ST, because that's such a huge line and you'd expect LSU to ease up and put in the backups at some point.

Utah kept up step for step with one of the better teams in the country:

We just left the TD Arena where Utah plays tonight at 9 o’clock against Wake Forest. Been here a couple hours in the general vicinity and I’ve seen two Utah fans. Every other team has lots of fans here, especially Dayton. Based on the total lack of interest, from/about Utah being here, I don’t expect to see many Utah fans in the arena. If we have more than a dozen or so, I would be surprised.
We were in front of the arena when the team got off the team bus and went into TD Arena to check it out and maybe a shoot around? i’m 6’2’ and I felt like a midget being next to these guys. Damn they’re tall; good looking group of kids. (I'm 70). Everybody looks like they’re loose and enjoying themselves. Saw the Dayton team players get off the bus and they looked like they were ticked off.
i’m sure nobody’s interested, but I will provide a couple of more updates while we’re here trying to be around the team as much as we can. Go Utes! Beat Wake Forest.

PS Charleston is a great city!!

Dustin breaks down the Wildcats:

Utes to host Arizona, BYU, TCU and Iowa State in 2024


IRVING, Texas – The Big 12 Conference announced its 16-team, four-year scheduling matrix for the 2024-27 football seasons today with the University of Utah setting to embark into its Big 12 era in 2024.

Utah's first season in the Big 12 will feature four conference home games and five on the road with the Utes entering next season with a 144-124-9 record against the teams that will be a part of the league in 2024. Utah's previously scheduled game against Baylor on Sept. 9, 2024 will remain a non-conference game for next season.

During the four years, all teams will play one another at least once home and away. Some matchups will occur over three seasons while others take place in all four. The conference also looked to maintain the current 5/4, 4/5 home/away rotation for all 16 members to minimize non-conference scheduling disruptions.


Utah has faced off against 11 of the 15 other teams that will be a part of the Big 12 in 2024, including holding a winning record against Baylor (1-0), BYU (62-35-4), TCU (5-3), West Virginia (2-0), Arizona (26-19-2) and Colorado (34-32-3).

The Utes will have some familiar foes at home in 2024 with TCU visiting Salt Lake City for the first time since 2010 while Iowa State hasn't been to Utah since 1975. It will also mark Utah's first-ever game against UCF and the first time the Utes have taken on Houston since 1978 and Oklahoma State since 1945.

Utah will be bringing 28 conference championships with them to the Big 12 next season along with an overall record of 717-479-31, the third-most wins among teams in the league for 2024.

Let’s get this thing rollin’, as the is delayed due to the previous tournament game.

A key piece is expected to be on board by tomorrow. This will give that class a nice jumpstart. Stay tuned…

Cool news for Jonah. Now they content team needs to get him to reenact his dad’s old award poster…

https://utah.rivals.com/news/utah-s-elliss-named-finalist-for-lombardi-award

Here’s what it means:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/what-it-means-2025-4-star-qb-becker-is-a-ute

Right here:

Matt previews a Pac-12 dark horse in Arizona:

I have been hearing some very positive developments about Cam returning next season. Also, yesterday Alex Kirrey said on 1280 yesterday that a donor told him he was coming back. Hopefully we hear sooner rather than later.

Yes, I am that Utah fan who deals with a tough loss in the daytime by indulging in a pint of cold microbrew at night and watching byu get embarrassed yet again.

Tonight's Choice was a Squatters Citrus Double IPA Hop Rising.

Anyone on the board going to the Charleston classic in Charleston South Carolina starting Thursday through Sunday?

If you’ve never been to Charleston, it’s a great city. People are friendly, great seafood, and beaches and ocean. Temperature will be in the low 70s this weekend.

My wife and I are exiled (LOL) in West Lafayette Indiana so we’re only a days drive to Charleston. She asked me what I wanted for my 70th birthday so the trip to Charleston and a great chance to see the Utes play in three games was my choice.

Utah plays Wake Forest Thurs pm.

The winner of that game plays #3 Houston Friday PM. four games on Sunday with the championship game late on ESPN.

Still a few tickets left on the local market. This weekend will be a good test for Utah against several different style teams.

Here’s how the guys graded out against Washington:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/inside-the-numbers-utah-s-week-10-pff-grades

Saturdays game drew 5.17 million viewers. The previous record was the Oregon game from 2021 at 4.81 million. This season has been a watershed year for Utah's visibility, virtually every game played on national TV has garnered well over a million viewers. 4 games, (Florida, USC, Oregon and Washington) have over 2 million. the Florida and USC games were both 3 million plus.

Going into the BIG 12 with this much exposure can only help Utah's brand and make them a favorite for the TV networks to pick Utah games over other games in the new conference. With 16 team vying for 3-4 games on FOX, ESPN, FSI, ESPN2, etc each week there will be a lot of games religated to ESPN+ next year. Utah games doing this well this year has to catch TV executives attention, right?

It was a quick one today…

-Whittingham is baffled by the lack of offense in the second half. Said they were on pace for 600 yards and 56 points at one point.

-They’ve made a big effort on getting the ball to Devaughn Vele in recent weeks.

-The officials said it looked like Suguturaga pushed off on the offensive PI call. Whittingham didn’t that happen at all.

-There are no plans of shutting any injured guys down, like Ja’Quinden Jackson.

-They’re having discussions with about 12 guys regarding leaving for the NFL early or the transfer portal. Says they have a good idea of what to expect.

-To be 7-3 right is a tribute to the players and the depth they’ve developed.

Here’s the recap from last week’s commit games:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/tracking-utah-2024-commit-games-corner-canyon-trio-to-championship-game

What a fun first half to watch. But, Utah got out-coached starting at halftime—ESPECIALLY Ludwig. Washington made adjust, Ludwig couldn’t counter.

That first was a great showing. However, they were held by a bad defense to under 100 yards in the second half.

Vele was phenomenal, and then they went away from him.

Tough to find positives even after that first half. Even the defense was gashed by a less than good Washington run game and the corners had a tough assignment, but committed a lot of penalties.

Let’s hear everyone’s thoughts.