ESPN Dismisses Utah Utes as National Championship Contenders Despite Big Win Over BYU

The Utah Utes currently sit at 9-0, holding a top-two position in the AP Top 25 Poll and a firm grasp on the Big 12 conference lead.

Yet, despite an undefeated record in a Power 4 conference and a signature 28-20 victory over BYU on November 7, the Utes are facing a wave of skepticism from national media outlets—specifically those rooted deep within the SEC-heavy ecosystem of ESPN.

The core of the debate centers on whether Utah is a legitimate National Championship contender or merely a beneficiary of a favorable schedule. While the Utes have dispatched quality opponents like the Houston Cougars, prominent analysts are publicly questioning their ceiling.

During a recent episode of ESPN’s Get Up, senior analyst Heather Didich suggested the team’s presence at number two in the rankings is largely a matter of default.

ESPN woke up today and chose violence against a 9-0 Utah team. "Struggled to beat Colorado." ⁰"BYU helped them out." ⁰"They will not win the national championship." BYU didn't "help" Utah. Utah took the ball away four times and held BYU scoreless for the whole second half.… pic.twitter.com/RhjXUHl8LZ

— Post by @saltcitysportut on X

“They are there by default because some other teams above them lost. They have a great quarterback in Devon Dampier. This selection committee has a lot of respect for Utah. They’re a good football team. Are they a great football team? I don’t think we know the answer to that.”

said Didich. She pointed to a narrow win over Colorado as a primary reason for her hesitation, arguing that Utah’s performance in the “Holy War” was bolstered by four interceptions and a series of penalties committed by BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier.

The skepticism didn’t end there. Paul Finebaum offered an even more blunt assessment of the Utes’ postseason prospects, telling viewers, “They are not good enough to win it, Greeny. Let me just get that out of the way. I didn’t mean to jump in, but I’ll clear that up for America. They will not win the national championship.”

This dismissal stands in stark contrast to the way other programs are evaluated. The Georgia Bulldogs, for instance, remain a focal point of championship discussions despite suffering a home loss to Auburn—a team that has struggled significantly throughout the 2026 season, including blowout losses to LSU and Ole Miss.

While Georgia’s strength of schedule is often cited as a mitigating factor for their inconsistency, Utah’s ability to remain undefeated in the same high-stakes environment is frequently framed as a lack of “greatness.”

When looking at objective data, the narrative of a massive talent gap becomes harder to justify. According to ESPN’s own SP+ rankings—a metric designed to measure team efficiency based on success rate—the gap between the Utes and their peers is remarkably thin.

While Utah currently sits at No. 9 in the SP+ update, Alabama is ranked No. 8. Furthermore, the Texas Longhorns, holding a No. 6 spot, maintain a rating of 23.5, which implies they would be only a two-point favorite over Utah on a neutral field. In the world of college football, a two-point spread is essentially a toss-up.

ESPN Dismisses Utah Utes as National Championship Contenders Despite Big Win Over BYU

The human and economic stakes here are significant. For players like Devon Dampier, the constant public narrative of “default” success can undermine the tangible work of a 9-0 season. For the Big 12, the stakes are even higher. The conference is attempting to solidify its status as a permanent fixture at the top of the college football hierarchy.

If the national media continues to treat the conference’s best team as an imposter, the perception of the league’s relevance in the NIL era—which BYU, for example, has navigated with unexpected success—could suffer, impacting everything from recruiting cycles to television valuations.

HOLY WAR BYU Cougars vs. Utah Utes | Full Game Highlights — ESPN College Football and CFP

Of course, the counter-argument from the network’s perspective is that “eye test” analysis accounts for variables that raw efficiency numbers miss.

Skeptics argue that while Utah has managed to survive close games, they haven’t yet demonstrated the dominant performance against a top-tier SEC powerhouse that would be required to lift a trophy in January. They contend that the playoff will expose the limitations that the regular season has managed to mask.

Ultimately, the dissonance between the rankings and the commentary suggests that the debate isn’t entirely about football. It is about the entrenched power dynamics of the sport. As noted by OutKick, the skepticism aimed at Utah is rarely applied with the same vigor to teams wearing a more traditional conference patch.

Whether the Utes can overcome these perceptions will be settled on the field, but for now, they are finding that reaching the top of the polls is only half the battle.