If the committee felt that way they wouldn’t put Utah ahead of Oklahoma, undefeated Baylor and Minnesota from “superior” performing conferences.
If those conferences were so impressive, how is it that undefeated teams are so far back?
Utah’s benefit is they’ve beaten more .500 or better teams than almost anyone.
In many cases, beaten them handily.
The PAC 12 is decent this year with a lot of wins over mid-tier P5 teams.
You’re right though, UU hasn’t played any elite teams. But not that many schools have either.