As the college football season is set to kick off on Thursday night, most Utahns expect the University of Utah to have the most successful college football season.
A new UtahPolicy.com/Dan Jones & Associates survey finds 44% of Utahns say the Utes will be the most successful team on the gridiron this year. 26% pick the Cougars of Brigham Young University to have the best season. 10% said the Utah State Aggies, while 2% picked the Weber State Wildcats.
The Utes are coming off a 10-3 record in 2015 that concluded with a thrilling 35-28 win over BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Utes finished in a tie for the Pac-12 South title and rose as high as #3 in the country in the rankings last year before finishing at #16 in the coaches poll and #17 in the AP poll. The media has picked Utah to finish third in the Pac-12 South division this season.
BYU fans have reason to be excited this season as Kalani Sitake has assumed the coaching reins from Bronco Mendenhall, who left to take over the University of Virginia’s football program. Sitake is the first Tongan to become the head coach of an FBS football program. BYU’s schedule is tough this season with UCLA, West Virginia, Michigan State andMississippi State all on the schedule. The Utes and Cougars also meet on the football field in September after a two-year hiatus.
We also asked Utahns about their favorite sports team in the state. The top pick was BYU football at 27%. The Utah Jazz came in second with 20% followed by University of Utah football at 18%. Only 7% picked Real Salt Lake, while 14% mentioned some other team not listed here.
