ESPN Projects Improved Utah In The 2025-26 College Football Playoff

SALT LAKE CITY – It’s never a bad time for way-too-early projections in college football. Just days after Ohio State was crowned champion, ESPN has already projected the entire 12-team College Football Playoff bracket for next season.

The conference represention among the 12 teams included were one Mountain West, one Big 12, one Independent, two ACC, three Big Ten, and four SEC programs.

Among the 12 teams included in the 2025-26 projection, not only was the University of Utah named the No. 3 seed.

Not only was Kyle Whittingham’s program named the No. 3 seed with a bye, ESPN projects a victory No. 6 Texas in the Cotton Bowl. That victory would lead Utah to a semifinals matchup in the Fiesta Bowl against No. 2 Penn State, where ESPN predicts a victory for the Nittany Lions.

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ESPN Projects Utah the winner of the Big 12

Even after a turbulent first year in the Big 12, Kyle Whittingham and his Utah Football program are viewed as a top contender in the league. Utah dealt with a significant number of injuries that impacted performance, particularly on offense.

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Still, despite the injury issues, Utah remained pretty competitive, losing five one-score games. With most of the defense returning in 2025 marginal offensive improvement should lead to more positive results for Utah in the Big 12.

“Despite collapsing offensively, the Utes still boasted a top-20 defense (per SP+) and lost five games by a total of 23 points. They’ll have a chance to charge right back up the standings. All they need is to find a QB1 — probably New Mexico transfer Devon Dampier — and keep him on the field.” – Bill Connelly

Whittingham made drastic changes to the offensive side of the ball. Jason Beck was named as Utah’s new offensive coordinator, while also welcoming Mark Atuaia and Micah Simon to the staff.

The big addition from a personel standpoitn was quarterback Devon Dampier, who followed Beck from New Mexico to Utah. Given the experience Dampier gained under Beck, that will allow him to hit the ground running at Utah.

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ESPN’s full 12-team playoff prediction

In the first edition of the 12-team playoff format, many are hoping for changes and tweaks. However, ESPN does not predict any changes to the current playoff format and has maintained the opening round home games, before moving to neutral site bowl games in each round afterwards.

Here is a rundown of ESPN’s playoff prediction:

1. Georgia
2. Penn State
3. Utah
4. Louisville
5. Alabama
6. Texas
7. Notre Dame
8. Michigan
9. Ohio State
10. LSU
11. North Carolina
12. Boise State

Steve Bartle is the Utah insider for KSL Sports. He hosts The Utah Blockcast (SUBSCRIBE) and appears on KSL Sports Zone to break down the Utes. You can follow him on X for the latest Utah updates and game analysis.

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