Utah football being Pac-12 favorite in 2019 shouldn’t surprise anyone

Utah football was the media’s choice over Oregon to win the Pac-12 in 2019, and that shouldn’t surprise anyone who has followed the Utes.

Heading into the 2019 season, the assumption is that the Pac-12 will be a two-team race (both from the North) between Oregon and Washington.

While that may seem like the easiest choice, the Pac-12 Media Poll said otherwise on Wednesday afternoon as they voted Utah as the conference title favorite with the most first-place votes of any team in the conference to win their division.

Moreover, the media voted for conference champion and Utah hate a one-vote advantage over Oregon, three more than Washington, 10 more than USC and the Utes beat out Washington State by 11.

Everyone seems shocked at this vote, but it shouldn’t be all that surprising given the returning stars the Utes have and the fact that Kyle Whittingham seems to always get overlooked.

Utah brings back starting quarterback Tyler Huntley who missed the final few games of the 2018 season with an injury and yet the Utes still won the South and took a trip to the Pac-12 title game. They also return Zack Moss who rushed for over 1,000 yards on 6.1 per carry and that was with him missing time as well due to injury.

A total of 15 starters return to a team that finished 9-5 — and 9-3 in the regular season — while falling just short in the Pac-12 Championship against Washington, 10-3.

The defense will be solid yet again and arguably the best in the Pac-12 while the offense is returning its top players. Anyone who is shocked by the Utes getting this type of love from the media hasn’t followed the program over the past year.

Oregon has to fend off Washington in the Pac-12 North while Utah should be able to walk to a South title as long as USC is still on the rebuild.