The Utah Utes football season kicks off in exactly 12 days and when that season kicks off, they will officially begin their march to the College Football Playoffs. With Cam Rising back and Kyle Whittingham's squad now in the Big 12, it seems Utah is in very good position to get a seed.
The Utes started the season the right way as they kicked off the preseason AP polls ranked number 12. That of course, would already have them in the playoffs, should the season end ... well, today. Of course, there's a long road to go.
And in reality, it seems likely that Utah could end up with a better seeding than their rankings showed during the season. It seems unlikely that Whittingham's crew will be as low as the No. 12 seed. With that and without further ado, here's my predictions for how the playoffs will shake out to start the season.
2024 Preseason 12-team CFP prediction
Rank | Team | Why are they here | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Georgia | SEC Champions | N/A |
2 | Ohio State | Big Ten Champions | N/A |
3 | Utah | Big 12 Champions | N/A |
4 | Florida State | ACC Champions | N/A |
5 | Notre Dame | At Large | N/A |
6 | Oregon | At Large | N/A |
7 | Alabama | At Large | N/A |
8 | Boise State | MW Champs | N/A |
9 | Miami | At Large | N/A |
10 | Kansas State | At Large | N/A |
11 | Michigan | At Large | N/A |
12 | Missouri | At Large | N/A |
There's a very real chance that the Utah Utes could be as high as the three seed in the College Football playoffs. That would be big for playing an easier team. It would also mean that they would get a bye in the first round.
The way the seedings work now is that The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded 1-4, while seeds 5 through 12 will fight amongst each other in the first round, with the higher seeds hosting the games.
The Utah Utes football team in this scenario would get to host their first playoff game at Rice Eccles Stadium. Here's hoping the road to the College Football Playoffs shakes out this way.