Utah Football may be in the Big 12, but they haven’t completely forgotten their old Pac-12 foe, UCLA. UCLA and Utah will face each other first in 2025 at the Rose Bowl and again in 2030 in Salt Lake City. The announcement comes just days after the Utes announced a neutral site game in Las Vegas against the Miami Hurricanes.
UCLA and Miami Have Much More Bark Than Bite
Oct 21, 2023; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr. (44) sacks Clemson Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) during the second quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports
Miami and UCLA have been average (or slightly below average) in football in the last decade, but they still hold up well with their name and recognition. In other words, of all the teams in college football, they get more credit than perhaps any other team despite a lack of success.
For comparison, think of the LA Lakers. Even in a bad year, a team’s win over the Lakers is viewed as noteworthy and good. NBA teams would rather have a win over a 20-35 Laker team than a win against a 28-28 Indiana Pacers team.
Utah chose to schedule two teams like this with the Hurricanes and UCLA. Both teams may be .500 or worse, but from a resume standpoint, a win looks like beating a really good P4 opponent, and a loss looks like an acceptable setback.
Utah is Scheduling For the Playoff
Jan 2, 2023; Pasadena, California, USA; Utah Utes tight end Thomas Yassmin (87) catches a touchdown pass over Penn State Nittany Lions linebacker Abdul Carter (11) during the second quarter at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
Utah knows that as a Big 12 team, they will likely have to either win the Big 12 conference or have a strong enough resume to earn an at-large spot. This makes nonconference scheduling very interesting. Utah doesn’t want to schedule too easy. Otherwise, even an 11-1 season may not be good enough to make the Playoff. However, at the same time, scheduling a team like Alabama, Michigan, or Ohio State would likely result in a loss, and then the Utes would have to finish out 10-1 to be considered.
What they really need is a sub-average P4 team that feels like an upper-tiered P4 team.
A team like Miami…or UCLA.
A win over Miami or UCLA would be viewed on the same level as beating Oklahoma or North Carolina while playing a team perhaps with the talent of Stanford or Northwestern. In other words, it would be a very winnable game that would give the image and storyline that the Utes beat a team much better than they actually did.
At the same time, if they were to lose, it’s not the end of the world. While a loss to Northwestern or Stanford would do a lot of damage early in the season, a loss to the Hurricanes would mean less room for error the rest of the season.
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Look at Future Schedules
Sep 9, 2023; Waco, Texas, USA; Utah Utes quarterback Bryson Barnes (16) is tackled Baylor Bears defensive lineman Gabe Hall (95) during the first half at McLane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports
Utah tends to follow the popular ABC schedule format for the nonconference. This means one FCS, one G5, and one P4 opponent. Utah already has the next ten years scheduled out. Oddly, outside of the newly added games with UCLA and Miami, the opponents are either at the bottom of the P4, or towards the top.
2024 – Baylor2025 – UCLA2026 – Arkansas2027 – Miami2028 – Wisconsin2029 – Arkansas2030 – UCLA2031 – LSU2032 – LSU2033 – WisconsinOur Partners
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Publish date : 2024-07-10 19:58:06
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