Rivals has a story up on the five sleeper teams of the upcoming football season. Utah, along with Notre Dame, UConn, Cal and Michigan State are listed. Here's what Rivals said about the Utes:
I'm chickening out a bit and picking the team we had at No. 28, Utah.The Utes have some issues in their front seven on defense and there are some concerns at wide receiver, but there's also a ton of talent in Salt Lake City.
Quarterback Brian Johnson looks to be 100 percent healthy, and if so, he will be one of the nation's top 15 or so at his position. The offensive line is experienced, there are some good running backs, the secondary should be solid, the defensive ends will be disruptive and the special teams will be strong. On top of that, the schedule is easily navigable – even including the season-opener at Michigan.
A victory over the Wolverines certainly wouldn't be a shocker, not with the Wolverines breaking in a new quarterback in a new offensive system. And a strong case can be made that after the opener, the Utes will be favored in every remaining game except maybe the season-ender against BYU.
And keep this in mind: BYU had to pull it out in the fourth quarter to beat the Utes last season in Provo and won by just two in its last trip to Salt Lake, in 2006.
Utah has been a BCS "interloper" before. This season's Utes team has a chance to do it again.
Great, discussing BCS chances once again. I don't want to get ahead of myself, so we'll just keep the BCS talk until after the Michigan game.
Also note Utah is 28th in their preseason rankings. A victory over Michigan will surely put the Utes in the top-25.