Utah moves up as BYU drops slightly in latest College Football Playoff rankings

SALT LAKE CITY — As practice wrapped up Monday night, Utah football players made their way to a table that had a stacked pyramid of Pop-Tarts boxes waiting for them as they exited the indoor practice facility.

The team couldn't contain their excitement and several quickly grabbed boxes off the table and celebrated their prize — a small reward for a major win over rival BYU on Saturday. Utah had been named the Pop-Tarts Bowl "crazy good" team of the week.

The result over the weekend gave Utah another quality win — against a second top 25 opponent — as part of an undefeated season in Morgan Scalley's first season, and helped launch a Heisman campaign for Utah quarterback Devon Dampier.

It was a key moment for the team, and one that has made Utah a contender for its first College Football Playoff berth with the fifth-best odds, according to ESPN. But it was just one of many games left, Scalley said.

"Every game matters," Scalley said. "You don't know when someone is going to upset you. When one game matters versus the other — every game matters. So the way we prepare our guys, the way we message it throughout the week, it's no different from week to week."

Utah will get another chance at a top-25 win Saturday when the Utes travel to Tucson, Arizona, to take on a Noah Fifita-led Arizona squad hungry for a chance at a Big 12 championship appearance.

Ahead of the weekend game, Utah moved up to No. 2 in the second installment of the College Football Playoff rankings this season, which were released Tuesday night. It was a one-spot jump, but a key position for the top team in the Big 12 with three weeks left in the regular season.

It's the highest-ever rankings for the Utes in program history.

Utah remains the team to beat in the Big 12 and is the odds-on favorite to make an appearance in the last-ever Big 12 championship game in Arlington, Texas, before the NCAA moves to a 24-team playoff next season and eliminates conference championship games.

The closest-ranked team to Utah in the Big 12 remains BYU, who dropped just one spot to No. 10 after its loss to Utah. The committee is giving the Cougars credit for a close loss to Utah and a win over Notre Dame, who beat previously ranked No. 1 Miami, who dropped to No. 7 this week.

The Cougars have an outside shot at a Big 12 title game appearance and a College Football Playoff berth, but the team will need help from other teams for a chance.

Texas Tech moved up to No. 12 this week after a shootout win over West Virginia over the weekend. The Red Raiders control their own destiny and could meet up with Utah in Arlington to defend their 2025 Big 12 title.

Behind Utah, BYU and Texas Tech in the rankings is No. 14 Houston, No. 23 Arizona and No. 25 Oklahoma State, who breaks into the rankings for the first time this season.

This story will be updated.

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