Big 12 guys are vested in trying to prove Utah is a middling program here.

They see Utah in the Pac-12 wins vs. ASU, CU and a weak USC. Never mind those were victories against the #1 and #2 pick, both Heismans.

They picture Utah losing to PSU or Ohio State with Barnes and think every game in the Big 12 is going to be the same competition.

I don't see it.

Never mind that CU, BYU, AZ, BYU and the newcomers Houston, UCF and Cincy will make up more than half of Utah's schedule each year.

Utah's recent history against teams ranked below the top 30 has been pretty dominant, TBH. How does that magically change?

I actually think BYU, CU and AZ might even take steps back this year. We'll see.

Seems like 5-0, 4-1 or even 3-2 against this group are far more likely than the 2-3, 1-4 expectations.

How Utah does against TCU, Ok St, Iowa State, etc will be intriguing. But again, I don't see Utah dropping all of those games. Or even most of them.

Every Utah win is going to be fun because of this awkward expectation.