Joel Klatt Ranks Utah At No. 8 In His Early 2024 Top 10 Rankings

The Utah Utes are expected to bounce back next season in what will be their first season in the Big 12

Heading into the 2023 season, there were talks of this Utah team being the best the program had ever seen.

Unfortunately, the high expectations and lofty goals were not met thanks to a plethora of injuries throughout the year. Star quarterback Cam Rising and his top target tight end Brant Kuithe never saw the field due to injuries suffered the season prior, and the Utes ended up losing about a dozen other contributors to injuries throughout the year.

With a move to the Big 12 coming in 2024, the Utes have reloaded in the transfer portal to make up for the NFL Draft declarations and have also more than made up for transfer portal losses by adding USC wide receiver Dorian Singer and Georgia Tech defensive back Kenan Johnson. It also helps to return both Rising and Kuithe for their seventh seasons.

BREAKING: Utah Lands Elite USC WR Transfer Dorian Singer

With all of their additions along with the stars they are returning in 2025, many believe that Utah is poised to run the Big 12 in what will be their first season. The latest analyst to support this notion is Fox Sports' Joel Klatt, who on his most recent episode of The Joel Klatt Show, unveiled his way-too-early top 10.

Joel Klatt  / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Utes and Notre Dame were the only non-SEC or Big Ten teams included in the top 10, with Utah coming in at No. 8 in the rankings. Klatt recognized that the Utes were really affected by injuries, and thinks that they'll be able to bounce back in a major way. 

“That’s right, they’re back. Death, taxes and Utah football. If this team doesn’t get decimated by injuries, I mean, decimated. Now, every team out there is going to say Joel we have injuries too, look up Utah this year. They just got crushed by injury. If you go back to the years that they didn’t get crushed … double-digit wins each of their last three full seasons.”

The Utes open the 2024 season with a matchup against Southern Utah.