This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Pac-12 has started the bowl season poorly and my picking record looks even worse, after I predicted a Washington State rout of Minnesota in the Holiday Bowl. So here comes another Pac-12 team (Utah) that also had big ambitions before fading in November, facing an average Big Ten opponent (Indiana) and trying to avoid having to spend the winter with a three-game losing streak. That's WSU's condition, after a 17-12 loss to the Gophers. Utah vs. Indiana, Foster Farms Bowl, 6:30 p.m. MST, Fox. I've posted a column previewing the game as Utah's opportunity to rewrite the ending of a weird season. I focused on how good the Utes looked against New Year's Six contestants USC and Washington, while having a tough time with California, UCLA and Oregon – teams that fired either their head coach or a coordinator who had fared well against Utah. I left out another ironic element of Utah's season, involving running back Joe Williams. In a Bay Area Media Group story, coach Kyle Whittingham labeled him the MVP of the team and "maybe the [Pac-12]" in the second half of the season. Yet the Utes went only 3-3 after Williams returned to the team. In any case, either Joe Williams or quarterback Troy Williams will have to produce some big numbers for the Utes to beat Indiana. While usually defaulting to the Pac-12 team in these bowl predictions, I'm chastened by WSU's performance Tuesday. But Utah still looks like the better team Wednesday, especially considering Whittingham's bowl history with a 9-1 record. Utah 27, Indiana 17. – Kurt Kragthorpe