Utah coach Kyle Whittingham enjoys playing an underdog role. So even though the No. 5 Utes are favored over No. 13 Oregon in Friday’s Pac-12 championship game, he will use material that frames his team as an outsider in the College Football Playoff discussion.
ESPN college football contributor Paul Finebaum is loudly dismissing Utah as a CFP contender, and Utah Football’s official Twitter account seized on something he repeated Wednesday. Asked on the air what he thought the CFP committee would do if Utah and No. 6 Oklahoma both won conference titles, Finebaum said, “Oklahoma’s getting in, because let’s be honest, the country does not want to see Utah in the College Football Playoff.