Athlon Sports picks newcomer Utah to win Big 12 Conference football title

There’s been a long history of teams struggling in their first year in a new conference — something prognosticators don’t think will be a problem for Utah in its first year in the Big 12 Conference.

Athlon Sports has the Utes picked to win the Big 12 after coming over from the Pac-12 Conference with Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado in 2024, largely thanks to the return of seventh-year quarterback Cam Rising.

From Athlon Sports: “Utah is set to return quarterback Cam Rising in 2024 after he missed all of last season due to a knee injury. He threw for 3,034 yards, 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2022 along with 465 yards rushing and six touchdown while leading the Utes to the Pac-12 title.”

Kansas State was picked to finish second, followed by Oklahoma State, Kansas and Arizona.

Utah opens the season on Aug. 29 at home against Southern Utah.