Utah is No. 15 in the preseason Amway Coaches Poll, the highest ranking in August in either of the two major polls in the program's history.
Thursday's announcement of the Coaches Poll comes about three weeks ahead of the preseason AP Top 25's release. The Utes haven't been ranked in that poll in August in their Pac-12 era, but are expected to land in the same range as in the Coaches Poll.
The Utes were No. 25 in the preseason Coaches Poll in 2017, when they finished 7-6. The program's highest preseason ranking in that poll was No. 18 in 2009, when Utah went 10-3 to follow a 13-0 season.
Other Pac-12 teams listed in the Coaches Poll include No. 12 Washington, No. 13 Oregon, No. 21 Washington State and No. 23 Stanford. The Utes will host WSU on Sept. 28 and visit Washington on Nov. 2; they will miss Oregon and Stanford in the Pac-12′s scheduling rotation in 2019.
Utah State received the equivalent of a No. 35 ranking in the others receiving votes category.
The Pac-12 South’s USC, UCLA and Arizona State also received votes in the poll. Utah’s Kyle Whittingham and Texas Tech’s Matt Wells, formerly of Utah State, are among the 65 voters.
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