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For us who are sports crazies, and especially football crazies, the fact that the college football season is literally right around the corner is not only exciting, but needed.
There has been a real lack of anything interesting going on. I am a huge baseball fan and with the major league season winding up now with 60 games left, baseball is improving, but let's be honest, it is time for college football season.
One of the more interesting reads is "Phil Steele's College Football Preview" that comes out annually before the football season. If you haven't ever read it, give it a chance.
Steele breaks everything down that you could ever imagine with past stats, future projections, etc. Just a side note, I continue to enjoy turning to the Pac-12 section of the magazine.
The 2011 projections are interesting. There is not one Utah player on the first team all Pac-12. Not one Ute on the offense, defense, or special teams. There are four on the second team (Stevens, Bergstrom, Walker, and Dunn), three on the third, and two on the fourth team.
That is a far cry from what we are used to recently in the Mountain West Conference. The season projection has the Utes coming in tied for a third place finish in the South division.
Steele picks USC to finish first in the South noting that they are obviously on probation that keeps them from a bowl game. In reality, this means that Steele has picked Arizona State to win the South with a roster full of returning starters.
According to Steele, UCLA and Utah will be tied for a 3rd (but really 2nd place) finish.
I have a couple questions for Utah fans. Simply, what are your projections? What are realistic expectations?
What are your concerns going into the season?
Email: mgrant@ksl.com
Twitter: @mikegrantksl
