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| 13. UTAH |
LAST YEAR: 23-9 |
'99-00 RANK: NR |
 Why No. 13?: Utah has the goods to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, similar to its appearance in the 1998 national title game. The Utes have only one returning starter in center Nate Althoff, but look who they've got coming in: Duke transfer center Chris Burgess, returning Mormon Church missionary forward Britton Johnsen, transfer guards Travis Spivey, Kevin Bradley, returning missionary guard Trace Caton and redshirt freshman big guard Nick Jacobsen. The blenders and role players Majerus loves like Phil Cullen and Jeff Johnsen give Utah more depth than it had a year ago. Majerus has more scorers than he did a year ago when the Utes relied too much on Hanno Mottola. While Rick Majerus is cautious about whether this crew can mesh early in the season, he's got the talent to cause fits for teams in the Mountain West. If Johnsen's shins and Burgess' back hold up in November, Utah has a chance to upset teams like Stanford and Memphis in Puerto Rico, Utah State on the road, USC in Anaheim, Pepperdine in Malibu and at Texas. The Utes have more athleticism than they've had in recent years, easing matchup problems for the Utes on defense.
Will Climb If: The Utes can get through November and December with no more than three losses. If the Utes can whether the early stretch and get Spivey and Bradley to adhere to Majerus' wishes than the Utes have a chance to creep into the top 10.
Will Fall If:Johnsen and Burgess get hurt and Spivey can't hack Majerus' regimen system. Utah is in one of the more unheralded conferences this season, but may get unnecessarily hurt by losses to Wyoming, UNLV, BYU or New Mexico. Losing one or two games to this crew shouldn't be admonished, but it might end up costing them in the polls or seedings.
Bilas Breakdown | HTV's Take | Team Page
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"I would not want to play Utah in March. Majerus just has a way to make people you wouldn't look twice at into superstars in March. This year, he has seven such guys."
John Gollan, Richardson, Texas
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