“BYU will look at the middle of the pack in the newly expanded league that lost Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC, while adding Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah from the Pac-12; the Utes are a bit lower.
The Cougars will enter the first year of Kevin Young's tenure as the No. 9 ranked team in the Big 12 by league coaches, while Craig Smith's Utes were slotted 16th in the conference.”
Can they not say that Utah was picked “dead last” and that they’re picked “a lot lower” than BYU?
“They were slotted 16th” is last place, KSL. Stop trying to make it sound not as bad.