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Urban Meyer ripped Utah's weak football schedule.
The Utah football team is 6-0 and sitting in a tie atop the Big 12 standings. Urban Meyer is not sold on their status as a College Football Playoff contender.
Meyer, who was the Utes’ head coach for two seasons, ripped his former employer’s 2026 schedule. As he put it, “They haven’t played a soul.”
The coach-turned-analyst doubts the program’s standing as a national title threat. He needs to see more, and he will.
Utah has not beaten a good football team.
The first six games have come Idaho, Arkansas, Utah State, Iowa State, Kansas, and Colorado. They’ve won those games by an average of 25 points. Just one has been decided by less than two touchdowns.
The Utes have not faced a team that currently has a winning record. Their opponents are a combined 14-24 through seven weeks.
Now, that doesn’t fall on the school alone. It did schedule an SEC team in Arkansas, which unfortunately, is the conference’s worst. It has also faced off against three league opponents. They just happen to be in the cellar of the Big 12 standings at this point in time.
The Utes have done their job thus far with six straight wins. If the season ended today, they’d likely get a playoff invite as they’re ranked 10th in the latest AP Poll.
Meyer is not ready to anoint them champs. He ripped Utah’s schedule in a recent appearance on the Triple Option podcast.
“I get so p— off about this,” he said when discussing Utah’s postseason pursuit. “I love Utah. I’m a Utah guy. At some point, you’d better start looking at schedules, boys. You cannot say that (Utah is a playoff team).
“I love Utah, but they haven’t played a soul. When I hear that, I’m like, you’d better get ready for awful games for the next decade if we (don’t factor in strength of schedule).”
The Utes can prove themselves.
The schedule gets much tougher moving forward. There are three teams currently ranked on the back half of the slate. They include No. 2 BYU.
Utah will face all three of those foes over the next month. We will know much more about the Utes come November.
Utah is not the only program to be criticized for scheduling in the 2026 campaign. Kirk Herbstreit recently ripped Notre Dame for its “embarrassing” slate before a loss to BYU.
“Notre Dame plays two games where they’re going to be challenged,” he said. “Think about what Alabama, Geogia, and Ohio State are dealing with. That cannot continue. That’s an embarrassment and incredibly unfair.”
Strength of schedule is expected to be weighed into College Football Playoff selection at season’s end. Utah has not played anyone yet, but they will have the opportunity to prove themselves to the committee.
If the Utes can knock off the likes of BYU, Houston, and Arizona, they will put Urban Meyer’s case for exclusion to bed.