2021 bowl projections: Utah football projected to play Big Ten team in Rose Bowl
Utah football completed their goal of winning the Pac-12 for the first time. Now they get to make a trip to the Rose Bowl to face the Big Ten.
It’s been an emotional year for Utah but Kyle Whittingham and his team came together to achieve something great.
The Utes beat down the Oregon Ducks in the Pac-12 Championship Game to claim the conference crown for the first time since they joined in 2011.
They may be one of the newer teams in the Pac-12 but they know exactly what winning the conference means: Their first-ever Rose Bowl berth.
Utah football to play Big Ten team in Rose Bowl
Whittingham has taken Utah to the Sugar Bowl before, but this will be the first top-tier bowl appearance since that 2009 victory over Alabama. That was before they joined the Pac-12.
Utah will find out their bowl opponent on Saturday. The winner of the Big Ten title game between Michigan and Iowa will determine who will meet the Utes in Pasadena on Dec. 1.
If the Wolverines prevail, they’ll head for the playoff and Ohio State will take their place in the Rose Bowl. If Iowa wins, they’ll punch their ticket to California.
Michigan is favored in that matchup but you never know how games will play out.
The Utes and Buckeyes have played once way back in 1986. It wasn’t a good day for Utah, losing 64-6 in Columbus.
It’s been even longer since Utah played Iowa. The Utes beat the Hawkeyes 13-9 in 1978.
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