In a recent interview with Heartland College Sports’ Pete Mundo, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum predicted which Big 12 team is best positioned to be the league’s flagship program.
Finebaum mentioned five different Big 12 programs, including Kansas State, Kansas, Oklahoma State, and TCU, but none more than Kyle Whittingham and the Utah Utes.
“You start with Utah,” Finebaum said. “They are a legitimate program and have been for a very long time. I still think there are some really good, good schools. The Kansas, Kansas State duo, I think, is significant, even though they do it a little bit differently, and even though I’m probably, I would probably fear for my wife this weekend in Stillwater, Oklahoma. That’s a program, but it does take things rather seriously, and I so I think, I think TCU is another one. My producer is a TCU graduate, so I know more about TCU than I really want to know.”
Utah taking the reigns of the Big 12 is not exactly an unpopular opinion, as most of Finebaum’s coworkers at ESPN feel similar. Nick Saban, Kick Herbstreit, and Desmond Howard all selected the Utes to win the league on ESPN’s College GameDay broadcast live from Ireland at the Aer Lingus Classic.
Still, Finebaum mentioned the possibility of several legacy Big 12 teams like Kansas, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State rivaling the Utes in their first season as members of the Big 12 Conference.
Utah earned the honor of the Big 12 favorite in the Preseason Media Poll, nearly edging out Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Arizona. With Utah’s star quarterback Cam Rising attempting to return to the field after a brutal knee injury, the Utes will still have some questions surrounding the program.
Regardless of the outside noise, Utah will have the chance to live up to their offseason hype when they kick off the 2024 season on Thursday, August 29th, vs. Southern Utah.
