Category: Utah Utes

College Football: The 10 biggest rematches from last year

Which game are you looking forward to in 2023?

It won’t be long before college football takes center stage once again. Spring practices will get ramped up in March as we start to get a better idea of some of the pressing storylines in college football.

Quarterback battles, coordinator changes, the transfer portal, and new head coaches will provide plenty of intrigue over the next several months. There were plenty of surprises last season with new coaches making an immediate impact and a former national power returning to the national scene. What do Mike Norvell and the Seminoles have in store for an encore?

Looking back at the 2022 season, there were plenty of thrilling moments and bitter rivalry games. I put together my list of the 10 most-anticipated rematches of the 2022 season.

Utah and Arizona State, battling USC on the bubble, meet on Saturday

The winner won’t gain a lot of ground, but it would stay afloat. The loser will fall even lower on the bubble. Let’s discuss.

The chatter surrounding Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley is only going to grow louder and more distracting in the coming weeks. ASU is currently unlikely to make the 2023 NCAA Tournament, in which case Hurley might look elsewhere for a reset in his coaching career.

However, speculation can wait a little bit. Hurley is still coaching Arizona State, and if he wants to have any chance of making a late run to the tournament, he and his Sun Devils need to beat Utah this coming Saturday in Tempe.

Arizona State endured an atrocious loss to Colorado on Thursday. The opponent was mediocre. Losing to Colorado will drag down ASU’s already-average resume even more. The way in which ASU lost was also brutal. The Devils were up six with just under six minutes left. They allowed a 17-3 run to CU down the stretch.

What is bad news for ASU is great news for USC, which knows that either the Sun Devils or Utah will lose another game on Saturday.

The Trojans are watching each of their Pac-12 bubble competitors fade away. With ASU and Utah both losing on Thursday, the importance of this Saturday meeting becomes that much greater … and not in terms of lifting the winner into the NCAA Tournament.

Because of ASU’s and Utah’s recent losses, this game is more of a “loser out” game than a “winner in” game. The winner merely stays afloat in the bubble picture. The loser falls even lower on the bubble.

If ASU loses here against Utah, the Sun Devils probably won’t be able to get into the NCAA Tournament if they split a pair of upcoming games against Arizona and UCLA, both on the road. They would probably need to win both. Winning one would be an absolute necessity, of course. ASU would need to win at least three games, probably four.

If ASU beats Utah, it can probably still split the Arizona-UCLA pair and get in with a win over USC in early March plus one win at the Pac-12 Tournament.

As for Utah, a loss to ASU would mean the Utes would have to sweep UCLA and USC next week to have a realistic chance of making the NCAA Tournament. Losing at home to Stanford a few weeks ago severely limited this team’s margin for error.

If Utah beats Arizona State, the Utes would still need to beat UCLA, but they might be able to lose to USC and not suffer severe consequences. They would have to collect a few more wins before Selection Sunday.

As for USC, the task is simple: Beat Stanford on Saturday. If the Trojans do that, they know they are guaranteed to gain more ground on the Utah-Arizona State loser. They won’t lose ground on the Utah-ASU winner.

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Pac-12 bubble watch: four teams are chasing the NCAA Tournament

There are 4 #Pac12 teams on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament cut line. Here’s what you need to know about each of them.

The Pac-12 Conference looks more and more like a league in which three or maybe even only two teams get into the NCAA Tournament field. Right now, UCLA and Arizona are locks to get in, and whoever wins the Pac-12 Tournament. If UCLA or the U of A wins in Las Vegas, the Pac-12 could be a two-bid league.

In Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology on ESPN, he has four Pac-12 teams all right outside the field of 68. Oregon and USC are the closest for the time being as two of the “First Four Out.”

In the “Next Four Out” section, Utah and Arizona State are right there. The Utes have stayed relevant despite the injury to Gabe Madsen, and the Sun Devils have won three of the last four games after a four-game losing streak that put Bobby Hurley’s job in potential danger.

We discussed USC’s remaining schedule and the danger the Trojans are in, but let’s examine the others.

Arizona State faces Colorado, Utah, Arizona, UCLA, and USC to finish the regular season. Defeating one or two of the last three teams should be a significant boost for the Devils.

Utah plays the same teams to end the year, with Arizona, Arizona State and UCLA coming up in addition to USC.

Oregon has a weird pattern going on over the last nine games: Win two, lose one. The Ducks have the easiest remaining schedule of them all with Washington, Washington State, Oregon State, Cal, and Stanford.

Oregon does have the easiest schedule, but the important point about that is that if Oregon loses any of its remaining games, the Ducks will take a big hit on their resume. They really need to win all five of those games. They have already lost to Stanford.

USC and Utah both get to play the Arizona schools. Wins over Arizona would be huge, and wins over ASU would improve their resumes. Arizona State getting to play Arizona, UCLA and USC offers the Sun Devils a chance to boost their portfolio. Oregon doesn’t have any resume-improving games left; the Ducks have to avoid a resume-wounding loss. USC, Utah and ASU all will get their chance to play their way into the field. Let’s see what happens.

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Utah basketball loses Gabe Madsen in huge blow to Utes

Utah will be without guard Gabe Madsen for 4-6 weeks as he deals with a leg injury. #USC will not face Madsen when the Trojans go to Salt Lake City in late February.

The Pac-12 Conference is looking more and more like a league in which just three teams will make the NCAA Tournament. A few weeks ago, Arizona State and Utah figured to be potential at-large teams before enduring losing skids.

Notably, the Utes just lost a key player in Gabe Madsen for the next 4-6 weeks. Madsen is dealing with a lower leg injury and is likely to miss the remainder of the regular season.

The Utes are 15-9 on the year, and Madsen was their second-leading scorer, averaging 11.7 PPG. He had three straight double-digit scoring efforts before the injury, so this is a significant loss for Utah.

Utah has an 8-5 record in the Pac-12, good for fourth place entering the weekend, but losing Madsen might be too much for the Utes to overcome.

The next couple of games shouldn’t be an issue for Utah — they face California and Colorado. After that, the schedule is unfavorable: at Arizona and Arizona State, then home against UCLA and USC before finishing the season with a road game at Colorado.

With Madsen out, Utes leading scorer Branden Carlson will have to do more work, and sophomore guard Lazar Stefanovic should see more opportunities on offense.

When USC goes to Salt Lake City in late February, it will not face Madsen.

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Comparing Utah’s 2023 football schedule to USC

Can Utah three-peat? The #Pac12 gave the Utes a few really rough schedule elements, similar to USC. A Friday night game at Oregon State is very Larry Scott-ish.

The 2023 Pac-12 football schedule was released on Wednesday morning on the Pac-12 Network.

It will be the final year with USC and UCLA in the conference before the LA schools make the move to the Big Ten.

The Utah Utes are the back-to-back Pac-12 champions, and their schedule has some notable difficulties shared by USC and not shared by Oregon.

Can Utah three-peat in the Pac-12 with Cam Rising returning for one more year at quarterback?

Here is a look at the dates and opponents for Utah in 2023, including a trip to Southern California to face USC in a Pac-12 title game rematch on October 21, one week before they host the Oregon Ducks. That’s part of the profoundly rough road the Utes have: