No. 6 — Utah Utes
Utah isn’t quite as high in the rankings for USAT as they were for ESPN, but they still are a top-10 team that could really threaten to make the College Football Playoff should everything go as planned under Cameron Rising. Here’s what USAT had to say:
There won’t be any issues at quarterback from this start of the upcoming season with Cam Rising firmly entrenched as the starter after taking over after three games and leading the team to its first Pac-12 title. Tavion Thomas, who had 21 touchdowns on the ground, and the tight end combination of Brant Kuithe and Dalton Kincaid are poised for big seasons alongside Rising. Defense is a constant for the Utes in the Kyle Whittingham era. Florida transfer Mohamoud Diabate fills one significant need at linebacker. The rest of the defense, especially the secondary, needs to raise its level to possibly break the Pac-12’s playoff drought, but Utah is the league’s best chance.
And now for the team from Los Angeles…