Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham celebrates a victory over Stanford in Salt Lake Metropolis on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022. The Utes shut out the common season Saturday at Colorado. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Information
Credit score Utah coach Kyle Whittingham — he referred to as it a very long time in the past.
Whittingham insisted that no workforce would go undefeated in Pac-12 play this season.
And he was proper.
Now, heading into the ultimate weekend of the common season, his workforce, in addition to Oregon and Washington, have a shot to get to the Pac-12 championship recreation towards USC on Dec. 2 in Las Vegas.
On this week’s School Soccer Playoff rankings, there are six Pac-12 groups — No. 6 USC, No. 9 Oregon, No. 13 Washington, No. 14 Utah, No. 18 UCLA and No. 21 Oregon State.
Is that this essentially the most aggressive the Pac-12 has been since Utah joined the league in 2011?
“It could possibly be. I stated on the onset that I didn’t suppose anyone was going to go undefeated by way of convention play,” Whittingham stated. “Now we have a convention of cannibalizing ourselves and this 12 months is not any completely different.
“I'd say it’s as aggressive, if no more so, than any in recent times. There by no means appears to be a clear-cut, dominating workforce that simply breezes by way of the schedule. It simply doesn’t occur. No less than it hasn’t in a very long time.”
It says quite a bit that Utah, the defending Pac-12 champions, might end 9-3 general and 7-2 in Pac-12 play — if it may beat Colorado — and it's thought to be a disappointment.
Whittingham stated that disappointment could possibly be seen as “a praise” in regard to how far this system has come since changing into a member of the league and the respect it now instructions.
The Utes have performed within the Pac-12 championship recreation in three of the earlier 4 seasons.
The truth that Utah has been in competition for the convention title deep in November in recent times is “extraordinarily gratifying,” Whittingham stated.
“It speaks to the expertise and competitiveness of our gamers,” he added. “Now we have these sorts of gamers as a result of our assistant coaches do such an excellent job of bringing in the proper kind of participant into this program, from a talent-standpoint, and an attitude-standpoint, and a character-standpoint. We’ve been within the hunt for lots of years deep into the season.”
Utes on the air
No. 14 Utah (8-3, 6-2)
at Colorado (1-7, 1-10)
Saturday, 2 p.m. MST
Folsom Area
TV: Pac-12 Community
Radio: ESPN 700