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Don’t look now, but Utah still has a chance of gatecrashing the College Football Playoff.
Twice this season, the Utes were left for dead. When they lost to Texas Tech, they were put to the side. When they fell to BYU in the Holy War, they were crossed off the list. But here we are in Week 12, and Utah still has a path to the Big 12 Championship.
A win over Baylor is a must-have, but the Utes are 7.5-point favorites in Waco on Saturday.
Utah vs. Baylor odds, prediction
It’s tough for any Big 12 team to survive two losses on their schedule and still be a contender for an at-large bid in the College Football Playoff, but the selection committee clearly thinks highly of Utah.
The Utes were ranked No. 13 in the latest CFP Rankings, ahead of two-loss rivals Vanderbilt and Miami, plus one-loss Georgia Tech.
It’s hard to disagree with the committee. The two losses may sting, but they came against two teams ranked ahead of them, and under the hood, everything checks out with Utah.
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The Utes rank as the No. 7 team in the country, per SP+, putting them ahead of teams like Ole Miss, Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, at least according to those specific power rankings. SP+, which is a catch-all metric created by Bill Connelly, isn’t gospel, but it gives you an idea of just how good the Utes have been this season, despite a couple of missteps.
Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson in action against UCF. Getty ImagesBaylor, meanwhile, has not found its footing all season. The Bears were meant to be a contender in the Big 12 this season, but they’ve still got work to do just to get to a bowl game.
Baylor has been especially uninspiring against good teams. The Bears have lost to Auburn, SMU, TCU, and Cincinnati, and their only really impressive win came against Kansas State, another bitter disappointment this season.
Utah is in a class of its own compared to Baylor, and the Utes have all the reasons in the world to run up the score in this one.
The Play: Utah -7.5 (-110, FanDuel)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
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