While the expectations for Utah's 2023 season were quite high with head coach Kyle Whittingham tabbing it as the best team he has had, the Utes fell quite short of their goals.
The team never quite got started thanks to injuries that held out quarterback Cam Rising and Brant Kuithe for the entire year. It also didn't do anyone any favors that they ended up losing over a dozen starters and key contributors throughout the year, making them one of college football's most injury-depleted teams. While 2023 certainly was a letdown, all attention for Utah and its fans should be on next season's College Football Playoff.
With Rising and Kuithe returning for their seventh seasons, and the Utes bolstering the roster in a huge way thanks to the transfer portal, they are poised for a playoff run. The expanded playoff takes the five highest-ranked conference champs, and Utah has as clear a path as any to winning the Big 12.
However, one of the teams standing in their way is Oklahoma State, who made it to this past season's conference title. While they did lose, they will return a huge chunk of the core. One of the main reasons that ESPN's Bill Connelly tabbed it as one of the games that he is most excited to see next season.
"Consider this one a placeholder," wrote Connelly. The Big 12 has long been a conference of tight games and wild finishes -- I always joke that every game is decided by three points, and it's only so much of a joke -- and it just traded its two blue-blood programs for four teams that, with the right breaks this year, could be equal to everyone else, no better or worse. We could get even closer to "every game is decided by three points" becoming a reality, in other words. There might not be a national title contender in this conference, but it's going to be a nonstop ride of fun games."
If the Utes can stay healthy and not have too many, if any, slips-ups along the way, they will find themselves in the playoff. While the end of the Pac-12 was a letdown in terms of tradition, the Big 12 is Utah's conference to take over if they can take advantage.
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