in the new conference.
There's tons of merit there. There will not be the gimmes that the P12 had at the bottom.
But Utah demolished those teams. I don't think trading a #100 Stanford team for #70 Houston is going to change Win %. While eliminating top 10 teams will.
That's the difference here. Utah has been near dominant with teams outside the top 20. That's what makes most of the Big 12. Maybe all of it.
Those top 20 - 70 type teams might catch Utah on a bad night on a tough road game for Utah. That will absolutely happen in the Big 12...but almost always, that school gets smoked at RES the following year.
As long as Utah stays healthy, and that's really the main issue for the Utes, it's hard not to see an 8/9 or 10 win season.
Sure, BYU, AZ, CU and ASU might improve...but Utah's average MOV is 2-3 TDs. I mean, I don't see it impacting the typical 80% win rate for Utah.