Utah debuted at No. 12 in the season’s first Associated Press Top 25 poll released on Monday morning.
The Utes are the highest-ranked team in the Big 12, with Oklahoma State clocking in at No. 17, Kansas State at No. 18, former Pac-12 foe Arizona at No. 21 and Kansas ranked at No. 22. It’s Utah’s fifth consecutive season earning a preseason AP top-25 bid, excluding the COVID-19 season, when the Utes only played five games and finished with a 3-2 record.
Last year Utah entered the season as the No. 14 ranked team in the AP preseason poll before finishing the season 8-5 with a win over Florida in the Las Vegas Bowl. In 2022, when the Utes won their second consecutive Pac-12 Championship, Utah was ranked at No. 7, its highest preseason ranking in program history.
Iowa State, West Virginia and Colorado also received preseason votes, but it wasn’t enough for them to make the top 25. The Southeastern Conference led the pack with the most teams selected with nine total teams in the top 25. The Big Ten followed in second with six programs.
Here’s a list of the entire top 25:
Georgia
Ohio State
Oregon
Texas
Alabama
Ole Miss
Notre Dame
Penn State
Michigan
Florida State
Missouri
Utah
LSU
Clemson
Tennessee
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Kansas State
Miami
Texas A&M
Arizona
Kansas
USC
NC State
Iowa
