Tuesday night, the most important ranking system in college football was announced, and the Utes fell at No. 23 in the College Football Playoff top 25 rankings. Utah is coming off of a loss to now No. 22 ranked UCLA. The Pac-12 now has five teams in the top 25 - Stanford (9), Oregon (17), Washington State (20), UCLA (22) and Utah (23). Stanford still has a shot at the playoff and will have some name opponents (Notre Dame and the Pac-12 Championship Game) to prove themselves worthy.
The Pac-12 has earned more respect as the season has gone along, thus is one reason for the Utes ranking in the poll.