Utah Utes 2023 Futures Odds
After Rose Bowl loss To Buckeyes, Utes Ready For Next Step
Under Kyle Whittingham, the Utah Utes won their second straight Pac-12 title after beating the USC Trojans (47-24) in Las Vegas in the championship game. From there, the Utes were invited to play in the Rose Bowl against Ohio State, a 35-21 loss. After the loss, the Utes fell from 7th to 10th in the national rankings. Against the spread, Utah finished 7-6 (+37 units). It was the seventh straight season the Salt Lake City-based school finished in the black for bettors (50-34-1 ATS since 2016). We continue our Utah Utes future odds preview by looking at some of the most popular future bets.
Utah Utes At A Glance
| Odds to Win | Opening Odds | Current Odds |
| National Championship | +5000 | +6000 |
| Conference | +500 | +500 |
| Regular Season Win Total | 8.5 (o+110, u-140) | 8.5 (o+110, u-140) |
| To Make Playoffs (if applicable) | Yes +800, No -2000 | Yes +800, No -2000 |
Utah Expected To Take A Step Back
To all win total bettors, we sit and wait. After quarterback Cam Rising suffered an ACL injury in last year’s Rose Bowl against Penn State. The sixth-year senior was in Las Vegas for the Pac-12 media days this week, saying his knee is doing great seven months after the injury. Rising is still rehabbing his knee, and despite the veteran’s optimism, Whittingham says that it’s not 100% clear when Rising would be cleared to play.
Utah opens at home against the Florida Gators before heading to Waco, Texas, to take on Baylor. With or without Rising, it’s a possibility the Utes could be looking at a 0-2 start. The veteran quarterback is expected to be a full participant in Summer camp along with Brandon Rose (red-shirt freshman) and Mack Howard (freshman).
Typically, an injury of Rising’s nature takes about eight months in recovery. Don’t be surprised if the California native doesn’t play until a home date with Weber State, one game before the Pac-12 opener against UCLA. The two-time Pac-12 champions opened last season with a projected win total of 9 (-135 over), a bet that pushed with their nine regular season wins.
This season the oddsmakers have adjusted, pushing the Utes down to a projected 8 ½ (-140 under). This is a move based on the uncertainty of Rising, but their schedule is also one of the toughest in the country. College Football betting is never easy, but we can’t see a path where Utah wins enough games to go over the total. We continue our Utah Utes future odds preview with a look at their National Championship chances.
National Championship Odds: Utah Opened As 16th Choice To Win Title
Utah opened +5000 to win the National Championship, a number that has been pushed up to +6000 with the most critical position on the field in limbo. This is the exact position Whittingham’s team was in last year (+5000 to win the title), but more questions must be answered, making the Utes a difficult title wager in 2023. This may be a future wager to reconsider in a few seasons, but for now, Utah fans should be more worried about their position in the Pac-12 College Football standings than where they stand nationally. Let’s continue our Utah Utes future odds preview by looking at their chances to 3-peat in the Pac-12.
Conference Odds: Utah, One of Four Teams To Take Seriously
The Utes have cashed back-to-back Pac-12 championship tickets as a +225 favorite last season and +600 in 2021. At +500 to start this season, there is a decent chance that a few dollars on another conference championship isn’t the worst wager. The difference is the Pac-12 is highly competitive with USC (+200), Oregon (+300), and Washington (+320) all listed with better odds than Utah. NCAA football stats only tell you where you’ve been and not exactly where a team is going, but the success of the nation’s 8th-ranked offense is predicated on the health of their quarterback. If Rising is healthy, then +500 is a worthy wager.
Regular Season Wins: Plus Money On Over For A Reason
In the history of season win totals wagering, the side with plus money isn’t going to cash as many tickets as the side with the juice. We’ve correctly predicted this wager involving Utah in two of the last three seasons, with 2023 ending in a push. Whittinghan’s team owns the nation’s 37th most difficult schedule, with opponents combining for an 86-67 (56.2%) record. We’ll have an idea of where a regular win total wager is heading right out of the gate against Florida, Weber State, and UCLA, all teams the Utes failed to cover against in their last meeting while losing outright to the Bruins (29-26) and UCLA (42-32) last season as favorites. On a game-by-game basis, betting on Utah against the Pac-12 has produced winning results every season since 2016. The Utes are 40-22 (65%) +1520 units against their conference in their last 62 games. We think Utah will fall just short of the 8 ½ win mark with 8 in 2023.
To Make Playoffs: Oddsmakers Give Utah No Chance To Make Playoffs
At -2000, there is no way the Utes will get into the playoffs this season after falling short last season. Despite back-to-back Pac-12 championships, Utah has never had less than three losses since moving from the Mountain West (excluding 2020, a 5-game Covid season). Expect this season to be no different. That concludes our Utah Utes future odds preview. Not much to choose from, but if there is one that we would choose it’s a wager on Utah going under their projected win total of 8 ½.
For NCAAF betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
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