Baylor vs. Utah: Early point spread released on Utes, Bears

Power Five vs. Power Five nonconference matchups are what make college football great. Ironically, next week’s Baylor vs. Utah game will soon be a Big 12 game. But at least for the 2023 season, the Utes will come to Waco as a member of the Pac-12.

Despite playing on the road, oddsmakers view Utah as the favorite heading into the matchup. According to Fan Duel, the Utes are 6.5-point favorites.

Utah is playing a power conference opponent for the second week in a row. The season opener came on Thursday night against Florida, earning a home win in Salt Lake City. Being an SEC program, most of the preseason attention was on the Gators.

The goal for the Utes is to make the Pac-12 Championship game and potentially compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff. While a game in Waco does not affect making it to Las Vegas at the end of the season, a CFP bid can be wiped away with a loss quite quickly.

However, Dave Aranda did not have the greatest Week 1. Baylor dropped an in-state game to Texas State at home, a crushing loss for the program. A brief score of 3-0 was the only lead the Bears had in the entire game. TX State head coach GJ Kinne saw his team lead by double digits throughout.

Taking down a ranked Utah would be an incredible bounce-back. Unfortunately, oddsmakers are not liking Baylor’s chances, giving the Utes the advantage heading to McLane Stadium.

Baylor-Utah a future Big 12 matchup

The Big 12 is going to be entering a new era. Conference realignment has taken over as teams will be transitioning in and out. Texas and Oklahoma will be leaving in favor of the SEC, while the four Pac-12 corner schools will be joining.

Commissioner Brett Yormark claimed the Big 12 to be “open for business” from the beginning. Utah was a big get for them and for multiple reasons. Not only is the football program in a big place right now but the BYU game should prove to be the best rivalry in the new-look Big 12.

Maybe, a new one will begin to brew.

Saturday will be a nonconference showdown but the next time Baylor and Utah see each other, they will be conference foes. There have been no previous matchups between the two programs and the 2023 matchup is just the beginning.