College football betting players are well aware of the term "BCS buster", and no one exemplifies that better that Utah, whose win over Alabama last year caused a fury and ended with the Mountain West in the BCS for this year. Utah needs to prove it was worth the hassle.
There are only four starters back on offense for the Utes, who lost quarterback Brian Jones and his top three receivers. Corbin Louks steps into the mix, and he'll at least have three starters returning up front to protect him. He'll also have leading rusher Matt Asiata back to take some of the load, but the Utes were 35th in passing offense, so ultimatelty, Louks needs to get his act together quickly if Utah wants to make some noise in your online betting book.
The defense was 11th in the country last year, and seven of those starters return, including their top four tacklers. The main replacement is Paul Kruger and his 7.5 sacks, but the secondary is deep as three of the projected four starters are seniors. Mike Wright and Stevenson Sylvester are the keys in the linebacking corps.
September 19's trip to Oregon will be Utah's chance to show the nation they're ready for the big time, while a visit from Air Force and their triple-option offense on October 24th could be tricky. The closing stretch will decide the season for the Utes: November 14th at TCU, and two weeks later, they end the season at BYU.
Betting services have the Utes as a +7500 longshot to win the BCS crown this year, and some are picking TCU and BYU ahead of them in the Mountain West, which makes the late-season road games even more important. Kyle Whittingham has done a great job at the helm since Urban Meyer left for Florida in 2004. The Utes can use the motivation of being passed over for the BCS title game in 2008 despite being the only unbeaten team in the country, but the defense will have to lead the way until Louks gels with the offense. This could get the Utes off to a slow start, and they'll know from last year that even perfect may not be good enough. A BCS buster will come out of the Mountain West, but it won't be Utah, so stay away from them in your football picks this year.
--BetOnline.com
There are only four starters back on offense for the Utes, who lost quarterback Brian Jones and his top three receivers. Corbin Louks steps into the mix, and he'll at least have three starters returning up front to protect him. He'll also have leading rusher Matt Asiata back to take some of the load, but the Utes were 35th in passing offense, so ultimatelty, Louks needs to get his act together quickly if Utah wants to make some noise in your online betting book.
The defense was 11th in the country last year, and seven of those starters return, including their top four tacklers. The main replacement is Paul Kruger and his 7.5 sacks, but the secondary is deep as three of the projected four starters are seniors. Mike Wright and Stevenson Sylvester are the keys in the linebacking corps.
September 19's trip to Oregon will be Utah's chance to show the nation they're ready for the big time, while a visit from Air Force and their triple-option offense on October 24th could be tricky. The closing stretch will decide the season for the Utes: November 14th at TCU, and two weeks later, they end the season at BYU.
Betting services have the Utes as a +7500 longshot to win the BCS crown this year, and some are picking TCU and BYU ahead of them in the Mountain West, which makes the late-season road games even more important. Kyle Whittingham has done a great job at the helm since Urban Meyer left for Florida in 2004. The Utes can use the motivation of being passed over for the BCS title game in 2008 despite being the only unbeaten team in the country, but the defense will have to lead the way until Louks gels with the offense. This could get the Utes off to a slow start, and they'll know from last year that even perfect may not be good enough. A BCS buster will come out of the Mountain West, but it won't be Utah, so stay away from them in your football picks this year.
--BetOnline.com
