Post by orangesocks on Apr 5, 2017 10:15:50 GMT -8
I've been waiting to post about them. Yesterday during the Portland game some supposedly superstitious posters were looking ahead to Utah and although I was tempted I just couldn't get myself to join in, especially when the Beavers found themselves down to the Pilots mid-game. Luckily that game worked out however so I feel much safer about talking about them now.
So the question is... what IS UTAH? This team has fascinated me since last season. They were terrible, easily worst team in the Pac-12 since joining the conference. In 2016 they were once again predicted to be terrible. Early in the season they were indeed, as expected, bad. Then somehow, something crazy happened. THEY WON THE PAC-12 CONFERENCE. One of the toughest conferences in college baseball saw its bottom dweller program win the conference WITH A LOSING OVERALL RECORD. I just don't get it. Weird things happen in baseball, but this is really weird. Were they an underachieving team that figured it out at the right time? Was this the greatest absolute fluke a Pac-12 baseball season has and will ever see? Am I being really unfair by calling it a fluke? I just don't know.
Most important, how much of a challenge will this team be for OSU? No matter whether 2016 was a fluke the Utes do appear to be a bit improved from their previous couple of seasons in the league. Quite frankly, I think this is a lower level Pac-12 team, maybe not any better than Arizona State (I can't believe I'm saying that). Arizona and Stanford were tougher opponents. But I don't want to count them out because 1) 2016 and B) baseball.
So the question is... what IS UTAH? This team has fascinated me since last season. They were terrible, easily worst team in the Pac-12 since joining the conference. In 2016 they were once again predicted to be terrible. Early in the season they were indeed, as expected, bad. Then somehow, something crazy happened. THEY WON THE PAC-12 CONFERENCE. One of the toughest conferences in college baseball saw its bottom dweller program win the conference WITH A LOSING OVERALL RECORD. I just don't get it. Weird things happen in baseball, but this is really weird. Were they an underachieving team that figured it out at the right time? Was this the greatest absolute fluke a Pac-12 baseball season has and will ever see? Am I being really unfair by calling it a fluke? I just don't know.
Most important, how much of a challenge will this team be for OSU? No matter whether 2016 was a fluke the Utes do appear to be a bit improved from their previous couple of seasons in the league. Quite frankly, I think this is a lower level Pac-12 team, maybe not any better than Arizona State (I can't believe I'm saying that). Arizona and Stanford were tougher opponents. But I don't want to count them out because 1) 2016 and B) baseball.
