Despite the use of a somewhat unorthodox method of ranking teams in the Big 12 Conference on a list that includes multiple teams in second, fourth, seventh, and tenth, college football guru Phil Steel expects Kyle Whittingham and the Utah Utes to win the Big 12 in the upcoming season.
In the most recent edition of the Phil Steele College Football Preview magazine, Steele ranked each team in the Big 12 Conference, with Utah headlining the list.
Not only did Steele list the Utes as conference champions, but he also highlighted the group by mentioning Utah as his No. 1 college football surprise team ahead of the 2024 season.
Utah joins the Big 12 Conference in 2024 alongside three other members of the “Four Corner” schools, including Arizona, Arizona State, and Colorado, and while the Wildcats have received some praise in preseason rankings, Kyle Whittingham’s program appears to be the front-runner of the four newest additions.
Utah returns veteran signal-caller Cam Rising after he missed the previous season due to a lingering knee injury. The caveat to Steele’s pick hinges on Rising’s health, but if the team can avoid the injury bug in 2024, they should be a major factor in the race toward Arlington.
Here is the list of Steele’s full rankings for the 2024 Big 12 Football Season.
- No. 1 Utah
- No. 2 Kansas State
- No. 2 Oklahoma State
- No. 4 Iowa State
- No. 4 Arizona
- No. 6 West Virginia
- No. 7 TCU
- No. 7 Kansas
- No. 7 UCF
- No. 10 Texas Tech
- No. 10 Baylor
- No. 10 Cincinnati
- No. 13 Colorado
- No. 14 BYU
- No. 15 Arizona State
- No. 16 Houston
