Season we will almost always be in contention. We usually won't start 6-0 And have this high ranking.
There is still a lot of football to be played. I would say after six conference games if we are still very much in the mix that will be an achievement. A lot of people are writing off teams with two losses. I think there are a lot of realistic pass where in Utah or other teams sneak into the championship game. Not saying, I think it's going to happen. Just there are plenty of paths that aren't super unrealistic.
One difference is the new big 12 is full of parity. There isn't a huge talent gap from 1 to 16. It comes down to leadership individual players and just things going right.