AP Top 25: Utah climbs in latest media poll, remains highest-ranked one-loss team
Following a wire-to-wire victory over Arizona State Saturday night in Tempe, Utah moved up once again in the latest AP Top 25.
Utah now sits at No. 12 in the updated media poll, released Sunday afternoon. The Utes beat the Sun Devils Saturday night 34-13 to open Pac-12 play with a victory and move to 3-1 on the season. It’s their third win, all of which have come by at least 20 points.
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) September 25, 2022
Penn State is all that stands between the Utes and a return to the AP Top 10, where they opened the season before a loss to Florida in The Swamp knocked them down a bit.
In the three weeks since, Utah has shored up holes in the game and watched as the defense regained its footing. In the last three weeks, the Utes have held two opponents under 100 yards rushing and a third under 100 yards passing.
And with USC (No. 6) the only Pac-12 team ranked higher, there’s a real opportunity setting up to unfold in mid-October.
The Utes host Oregon State this upcoming weekend, an 11 a.m. PT kick on the Pac-12 Network. A week later, they’ll UCLA in the Rose Bowl. Wins in both games, along with USC continuing to handle its business against Arizona State in Week 5 and Washington State in Week 6, would in all likelihood set up a top-15, possibly even top-10 showdown between the Utes and Trojans in Salt Lake City on Oct. 15.
Only three times in Kyle Whittingham’s time as the program’s head coach has a top-six team visited Rice-Eccles Stadium. The game against the Trojans is shaping up to be the kind with Pac-12 Championship and College Football Playoff implications many envisioned in the preseason.
But the Utes need to just keep handling their business until then. They are the highest-ranked one-loss team in the poll, slotted just ahead of the Oregon Ducks, but the Utes don’t want to see another loss come their way.
Here’s how the rest of the AP Top 25 looks ahead of Week 5:
Georgia
Alabama
Ohio State
Michigan
Clemson
USC
Kentucky
Tennessee
Oklahoma State
North Carolina State
Penn State
Utah
Oregon
Ole Miss
Washington
Baylor
Texas A&M
Oklahoma
BYU
Arkansas
Minnesota
Wake Forest
Florida State
Pittsburgh
Kansas State