Big 12 Basketball: Ranking all 16 programs after adding Arizona, ASU, Colorado and Utah
By Joey Loose
15. Utah
Younger or more recent college basketball fans probably don’t know or remember that Utah actually played in the national championship game in 1998. Rick Majerus built a fantastic program with the Utes, though this program certainly hasn’t been the same since he departed nearly two decades ago.
When Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011, they proceeded to have one of the worst seasons a power conference program has had in recent memory, but that wasn’t the end. Three years later, new head coach Larry Krystkowiak led the Utes to the Sweet Sixteen and to a 2nd place finish in the Pac-12. Unfortunately, Utah hasn’t sniffed the Big Dance since 2016 and their conference hasn’t exactly been a murderer’s row in recent years.
One positive aspect for the Utes is that third-year head coach Craig Smith is a proven winner at both South Dakota and Utah State and does have the program trending in a positive direction. Their location in Salt Lake City might be attractive to some recruits and there’s certainly potential here. After all, this program was a juggernaut nearly three decades ago.
On the other hand, Utah hasn’t finished above .500 in conference play in four years, and that’s against a Pac-12 that rated significantly lower than the Big 12 in every metric. The Utes are by no means a bad program even today, and they certainly found their footing in the Pac-12 after a few seasons. At this point, it’s hard to see them finding an even stronger footing in a tougher Big 12, at least not in the first few seasons.