Runnin' Utes picked 9th by media

Utah basketball was picked to finish 9th by the media - an improvement from their 12th place prediction from a year ago.

Still, it shows that the Runnin' Utes aren't back yet, even with their mini-run in the Pac-12 tournament and stellar upcoming recruiting class.

Because of this, it's hard to find fault in that ranking.

Utah finished last season 9th in the conference with a losing record of 5-13.

What do you expect from this year's Runnin' Utes? My hope for this team is to really contend for a .500 conference record. If they do, like last year's team, they'll surprise.

But right now, most in the media are in a wait and see mode.

And that's perfectly acceptable.