As Utah's college football teams gear up for the 2015 season, most fans in the state expect the University of Utah to have the best season this year.
A new UtahPolicy.com survey from Dan Jones & Associates finds 40% of Utahns say the Utes will have the best season this year. 18% say the Utah State Aggies will have the best year while just 17% say the BYU Cougars will have the most success. A quarter of those we asked say they don't know.
The University of Utah is coming off a 9-4 season last year that saw the Utes finish ranked #21 in the Associated Press poll and #20 in the coaches poll. Despite the local optimism, this year could be a tough one as the Pac-12 media picked Utah to finish in 5th place in the South division. Utah starts their season Thursday night against Michigan.
BYU has some heavy hitting opponents on their schedule this year including Nebraska, Boise State, UCLA, Michigan and Missouri. Perhaps that's the reason for the pessimism for their upcoming season.
Utah State is picked by the media to finish second in the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference behind Boise State.
Interestingly, members of the LDS Church are not very high on the chances for the BYU's football squad this season. Brigham Young University is owned by the LDS Church.
A third of "very active" Mormons think the University of Utah will have the best season locally this year while 26% say BYU will. 17% pick Utah State.
Among "somewhat active" Mormons, 33% say the Utes will have the best season in 2015. Just 9% pick BYU to be the best local team while 24% think the Aggies will post the best season.
"Not active" Mormons overwhelmingly pick the University of Utah to be the top squad, with 56% backing the Utes this year. 22% think BYU will have the best season locally while a paltry 5% think Utah State will.
The survey was conducted by Dan Jones & Associates from August 7-14 among 500 adult Utahns. It has a margin of error of +/- 4.99%.
