No surprise, Utes are No. 4 in BB poll

It was no surprise that Utah was ranked No. 4 in the Mountain West Conference preseason basketball poll announced Tuesday in Denver. That’s where I put the Utes in my ranking and that’s about what they deserve after losing 70 percent of their scoring from last season. Coach Jim Boylen said that is about right for his team, although he expects more from his program and knows his fan-base does also.
The good news for the Utes is that the MWC is down quite a bit from last year, so the Utes have a chance to challenge for the league title. If some of the young players really step up, the Utes could make the NCAAs for the second straight year. However if Utes can’t find some consistent scorers, they may not go anywhere this year. If I had to guess right now, I’d say the Utes will end up in the NIT this year.