I don't follow Utah or USU basketball nearly at all, because the games have little to no influence on BYU having a successful season. For instance, I didn't know until yesterday that 9 of the 13 players on USU jumped ship during the off season, and the USU stock has dropped like a rock.

Utah is ranked 25 in the AP preseason poll. I know that it's a preseason poll, but this is the team that had less than 10 wins two years ago. Last year they had something like 15 wins, but they only had two wins on the road, and the majority of their wins (BYU being a major exception) came against the worst OOC schedule in the nation.

This year they're projected to finish 2nd in the PAC12 and they're ranked in the preseason poll? Is this just the media assuming that Utah's upward trajectory was legitimate and will be sustained, or are there other facts that I'm not aware of? Even the Ute homers in my office aren't hopeful for Utah being good this year, so what gives?