Most of the Utah Utes’ success in college basketball came before the school joined the Conference of (real NCAA) Champions; so this edition of Pac-12 Friday is relatively weak, all things considered. However, it’s interesting to note that overall in terms of win percentage, the Utes still have fared better than the three schools we’ve already taken a look at here, in terms of basketball prowess while members of the league.

5. 2021

This entry demonstrates what we were stating above: the Utes went just 8-11 in conference play while posting a 12-13 record overall in the first post-Covid season. With a No. 48 overall finish in the SRS rankings, though, it’s clear Utah underperformed in the win column: 9 times the team lost by single digits, including both losses to ranked teams during the season. Blame Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak for that.

4. 2017

Despite losing in the conference tournament and the first round of the NIT by single digits each time, the Utes still finished with a 20-12 record, including an 11-7 mark in league play. That was good enough for the No. 48 finish in the SRS overall rankings. Ten of the 12 losses were by single digits, showing again a weakness in game management from the same coach. The Utes also went 0-6 against ranked teams, too.

3. 2014

The Utes finished No. 38 in the overall SRS rankings, on the back of a 21-12 season—including a 9-9 finish in the league round robin. After winning the opening game of the Pac-12 Tournament, though, Utah bottomed out with a 32-point loss against No. 4 Arizona and a road loss to St. Mary’s (CA) in the first round of the NIT. Once again, the team struggled with ranked teams, going winless in 4 matchups. Same old stuff.

2. 2016

A 27-9 record overall was good enough to earn the Utes a No. 28 finish in the SRS rankings overall, and the 13-5 mark in league play warranted a second-place finish in conference. Utah also ended up No. 13 in the final Associated Press poll after losing the Pac-12 tourney final to then-No. 8 Oregon. However, the Utes couldn’t reach the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16, losing to Gonzaga in the second round by 23 points. Ouch.

1. 2015

The best Utah team in its Pac-12 existence finished No. 8 in the SRS overall with a 26-9 record and a second-place finish (13-5) in the conference. The No. 19 ranking in the AP poll was decent, too, but the Utes were bounced in the semifinals of the league tournament. They did recover, however, to reach the March Madness Sweet 16 with tourney victories over Stephen F. Austin and Georgetown before losing to Duke.