The schedule is really setting up to provide maximum exposure for Utah.
September – Not a lot of high profile games this week and Arizona in a night game should get some eyeballs.
October – bye, ASU, TCU, Houston. A week to get healthy and 3 games which Utah should be 2 or 3 score favourites. Essentially a full month where Utah should be able to pile up wins while cementing their identity and quietly moving up the rankings as other teams around them lose.
November – bye, parochial school, Colorado, Iowa State, UCF. A lot can change over the next month but as of now that’s projecting to be 3 ranked teams and a media darling with a winning record.
I think the SEC and B1G have the top 2 spots locked up unless somehow (and I don’t know how it’s possible) a 3 loss team wins their CCG. That leaves spots 3 and 4 for the automatic qualifiers and those will be determined by the committee. #3 is obviously the more desirable spot as #4 will probably be playing the 2nd best SEC/B1G team that got voted #5 and got to play a G5 in the first round at home.
So in the race between the ACC and the Big-12 for the 3 spot – and assuming that is Utah v Miami / Clemson – having those high profile, ranked games at the end while the talking heads are slobbering over the usual suspects may bring enough attention to earn a higher seed.
Arizona @ 
Utah 
.
