After their inaugural season in the Pac12 (in which they went 4-5 in conference play), people were high on the Utes. On his radio show, Gordon Monson said he really thought the Utes would go undefeated in the 2012 season, but since it wasn't the responsible thing to say, he begrudgingly predicted an 11-1 season, acknowledging that the Utes just MIGHT drop one game to USC.
Utes won three conference games that season and missed out on a bowl.