While ESPN catches a lot of flack for a variety of reasons when it comes to college football, the league found a way to annoy Big 12 fans yet again with their projection for the 2026 College Football Playoff.
ESPN listed the Big 12 Champion as the No. 3 seed in the bracket, which was expected, however, the team they chose to win the league is what generated some major backlash.
Despite finishing 13th in the Big 12 with a 2-7 conference record in 2024, the experts at ESPN selected Kyle Whittingham and the Utah Utes as league champions this fall.
The selection was questionable, to say the least, as the Utes struggled in their debut season as members of the Big 12. The group won just two league games against UCF (2-7 Big 12) and Oklahoma State (0-9 Big 12), who both missed out on bowl eligibility by a wide margin.
The team elected to move on from long-time signal caller Cam Rising, who departed the 2024 season with another season-ending injury. Due to the loss, they hit the transfer portal and added New Mexico’s Devon Dampier, who is an incredible athlete.
While Utah should be in store for some improvement in 2025, with teams like Arizona State, Kansas State, Iowa State, BYU, and more all returning large production, it feels like Utah’s playoff hopes should be a bit further down the road in the rebuild.
