Cheating games that could involve BYU, Utah and the state of Utah this year

Discomfort alert!

Every weekend during college football season, those words inevitably enter our vocabulary.

Whether nuisance alerts actually happen is another story, but the prospect of the Top 25 teams losing to someone they’re expected to beat provides excitement on Saturday afternoons in the fall.

With the first full week of college football games scheduled to begin this weekend, 247 Sports’ Sam Marsdale identified a cheat game for each team ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll.

All three of the Utah FBS teams (BYU, Utah and Utah State) appeared somewhere on the list, either as favorites (BYU and Utah are both ranked in the preseason Top 25) or as the team that could cause an upset.

The Cougars, in particular, appear in multiple locations.

Where do Utah teams appear on 247 Sports’ Top 25 Cheat Games list?

• Marsdale listed Utah State as BYU’s 25th trap game, a contest taking place Sept. 29 in Provo.
• “In a short week, BYU welcomes back the defending Mountain West champions. The Cougars also watch their next game against Notre Dame in Las Vegas. That makes this an easy pick,” Marsdale wrote.
• The Cougars are also listed as the trap team for two other Top 25 teams, Notre Dame and Oregon. BYU takes on the Fighting Irish on October 8 in Las Vegas and the Ducks on September 17 in Eugene, Oregon.
• Marsdale notes that Notre Dame is facing Ohio State and North Carolina on the road before the BYU matchup, then adds, “A team that isn’t a Power Five right now, the Cougars have become a strong team in the last few years. years. … This is not going to be a relaxing game.”
• The BYU-Oregon game comes two weeks after the Ducks play defending national champion Georgia and one week before they open the Pac-12 game.
• “The BYU magic of last season may have been largely forgotten when Utah soared and drew attention away from the events in Provo. … Bringing down the Cougars could be a lot harder than anticipated,” Marsdale wrote.

Adam Fondren for Deseret News

• Meanwhile, for defending Pac-12 champion and No. 7 Utah, Marsdale predicts the Utes’ cheat game this season could be at UCLA on Oct. 8.
• The Bruins could be 5-0 entering that game after a non-conference roster that includes games against Bowling Green, Alabama State and South Alabama, as well as Pac-12 games against Washington and Colorado.
• Marsdale suggested that even if Utah loses its season opener at Florida this Saturday, a College Football Playoff spot could still be on the table if the Utes win.
• “Each contender has a list where the nation finds out if they are the real deal. And for the Utes to come when they travel to UCLA before hosting USC in consecutive weeks,” Marsdale wrote.
• “Before what? Utah plays Oregon State after battling Arizona State on the road, and as the Pac-12 South race heats up between the Utes and Los Angeles schools.”