Why Joel Klatt believes Utah will win the Big 12 – Deseret News

Former college football quarterback and current Fox lead college football analyst Joel Klatt got Utah off to a strong start in his post-spring top-25 rankings, placing Kyle Whittingham’s program at No. 6, one spot ahead of Alabama and one spot behind Ole Miss (No. 5).

Klatt scaled back his fall preseason top-25 rankings on the “Joel Klatt Show,” but is still very optimistic about the Utes and predicts they will win the Big 12 Conference.

Klatt ranked Utah No. 9 nationally, three spots ahead of the Associated Press’ preseason ranking of the Utes at No. 12, one spot ahead of Penn State at No. 10 and one spot behind Alabama at No. 8.

Alabama (8), Michigan (7) and Notre Dame (6) have all overtaken Utah compared to Klatt’s spring rankings.

“Death, taxes, Utah football. That’s my favorite in the Big 12,” Klatt said. “Utah is really good, really tough.”

Klatt touted Rice-Eccles Stadium, where the Utes have an 18-1 record over the past three years (their lone loss coming to then-6th-ranked Oregon), as the new toughest venue in the Big 12.

“I know the Big 12 teams don’t want to hear this, and I understand it’s tough to play in some of those places, but Salt Lake City — and Utah — is the toughest place to play in the Big 12 right now. Period. Period,” Klatt said. “That home-court advantage is real. They’re unbelievable at home. This is one of the best teams in the country.”

It all starts with quarterback Cam Rising and tight end Brant Kuithe. Rising, who has thrown for 5,572 yards and 46 touchdowns over the course of his Utes career, led Utah to two Pac-12 titles in 2021 and 2022, and although Kuithe had a season-ending injury in 2022, he was a big part of the 2021 success, with 611 yards on 50 catches.

“What do these guys do when they’re on the field? They win the conference. They’ve done that every time they’ve been healthy on the field the last two games. They won the Pac-12 and went to the Rose Bowl,” Klatt said.

“Why should we think it will be any different in the Big 12? It won’t. It won’t.”

Klatt considers Whittingham – who has a 162-79 record as coach of the Utes, including three conference championships and a 2009 Sugar Bowl victory – to be one of the three or four best coaches in college football.

The only thing Whittingham has not yet accomplished as he begins his 20th season as Utah’s head coach: participating in the College Football Playoffs.

Klatt believes the Utes will do just that.

“This could be the end for a player who was as good as any in the country. Do you think the team won’t play hard for him? Do you think the defense won’t play hard? They’re aggressive. They have a great home field. They have a veteran quarterback. Watch out for Utah,” Klatt said.

The Utes open the season on August 29 at Rice-Eccles Stadium against Southern Utah and their opening game in the Big 12 Conference is on September 21 at Oklahoma State.