Where is Utah in preseason bowl game projections for 2026

by August 23, 2026

written by August 23, 2026

The college football season is nearly here. In fact, we’re just a week away from action.

With all the offseason drama, many can’t wait for the season to kick off and put all the speculation to bed. Even before the first games start, some analysts are putting down their bowl game predictions. A little bit premature, but CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford put together a great list.

For the Utah Utes, this offseason was unlike any experienced in Salt Lake City in decades. Kyle Whittingham moves on to Michigan with Morgan Scalley taking over after holding the coach-in-waiting title for years. What’s expected from the new-look Utes? The team won’t skip a beat and be very competitive.

Crawford believes Utah will be bowl bound this season, but will fall short of the College Football Playoff. He put the Utes in the Alamo Bowl against former Pac-12 foe Washington.

The hard part is predicting which team will come surge this year. There seems to always be one unexpected team that surprises the rest of the field. Crawford also has two Big 12 teams in the Playoff. BYU and Texas Tech are projected to be part of the final teams competing for a national championship. The league’s top two teams are heading for a rematch in the conference title game. However, Crawford only sees one surviving into the quarterfinals. He has BYU losing to Indiana in the first round.

If that does happen, it’s any team’s worst nightmare. Nobody wants to take on the defending national champions at home. Curt Cignetti will be ready and try to out game plan any opponent he’s facing. It would also be one of the best match-ups of the season. Watching Cignetti go up against Kalani Sitake if an outstanding coaches battle. Both of them are going to try and find an advantage over the other.

As for the Red Raiders, Crawford has them beating SMU in the first round before hitting Georgia in a Cotton Bowl semifinal match-up. Seems like losing quarterback Brendan Sorby didn’t alter much for the reigning Big 12 champs. However, trying to repeat last year’s success will be tough.

There’s still a path to the Playoff for Utah. The most important game for that to happen will be the Holy War on Nov. 7. If BYU can beat Notre Dame earlier in the season, this year’s Beehive State rivalry will have postseason implications. This would also mean Utah needs to take care of business all the way to that point of the schedule.