2016 Utah Utes Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks

by Robert Ferringo - 8/12/2016

2015 Record: 10-3

2016 Las Vegas Season Win Total: 7.5

2016 Season Win Total Picks NCAA Football: 'Over'

It took a few years but Utah has finally proven that it can hold its own with the powers of the Pac-12. Three Top 20 wins in 2014 and an all-time blasting of Oregon in Autzen last year proved emphatically that the Utes are something to be reckoned with. And now it is on Kyle Whittingham to display staying power in the top tier of the conference.

Utah will have to rely more on experience than talent in this go-round. They lost their quarterback, top two receivers, and three of their four top pass-catchers on offense. Devontae Booker, their best offensive player, graduated. Defensively, four of their top five tacklers have moved on.

However, Utah has eight three-year starters and 12 seniors among the starting 22 this fall. And the fill-ins are mostly upperclassmen, junior college transfers, and the hidden secret of the Utes success for decades: missionaries. Whittingham's teams are usually stocked with players in their early 20s, and this year's group is no exception.

I think that teams in the Pac-12 overlooked Utah the past two seasons. After the Utes struggled to a 9-18 conference mark in their first three seasons people weren't sure if they could hack it. But Utah has gone a respectable 11-7 (though just 8-10 ATS) the past two years in league play.

Utah has one of the most favorable schedules in the Pac-12 this year. They do have five road games. But four of them are against the four weakest teams in the league. That means Utah gets its toughest games at home. The Utes face USC the week after the Trojans play at Stanford and Utah hosts Oregon after the Ducks take on USC and Stanford in back-to-back weeks and right before their Civil War game at Oregon State.

Utah isn't as good as it was last year. But they can still play. I think this is a very strong number from the books, and I expect the Utes to be within a half-game of it one way or another. Based purely on the way their schedule tilts, I would play 'over'. And I think their Holy War game with BYU - a rematch of last year's Las Vegas Bowl win by Utah - will be the determinant of this wager.

2016 Utah Utes Schedule

DATE	OPPONENT	TIME (ET)	Location	Result
Thu, Sep 1st, 2016	Southern Utah	08:00 PM	Rice-Eccles Stadium
Sat, Sep 10th, 2016	BYU	07:30 PM	Rice-Eccles Stadium
Sat, Sep 17th, 2016	at San Jose State	10:30 PM	Spartan Stadium
Fri, Sep 23rd, 2016	USC	09:00 PM	Rice-Eccles Stadium
Sat, Oct 1st, 2016	at California	03:00 PM	Kabam Field
Sat, Oct 8th, 2016	Arizona	02:00 PM	Rice-Eccles Stadium
Sat, Oct 15th, 2016	at Oregon State	03:00 PM	Reser Stadium
Sat, Oct 22nd, 2016	at UCLA	03:00 PM	Rose Bowl
Sat, Oct 29th, 2016	Washington	02:00 PM	Rice-Eccles Stadium
Thu, Nov 10th, 2016	at Arizona State	09:30 PM	Sun Devil Stadium
Sat, Nov 19th, 2016	Oregon	02:00 PM	Rice-Eccles Stadium
Sat, Nov 26th, 2016	at Colorado	02:00 PM	Folsom Field

All Times EST

Robert Ferringo is one of the top football handicappers in the country and tallied an unrivaled $20,800 in football profit between 2011 and 2016, including his amazing 2013 NFL season in which he hit 62.1 percent (95-58). Robert has produced 14 of 22 winning football months and an amazing 37 of 57 winning football months over the past decade. Robert has eight of nine winning NFL preseasons and he is at nearly 60 percent winners over his last 750 totals picks. Also, Robert's proprietary KING College Football Betting System has posted three of four winning seasons and is 122-92 over the last three years (57.0 percent).

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