Utah
2024 Big 12 championship odds, picks: Utah, Kansas State lead favorites; Coach Prime has Colorado a value play
The Big 12 enters the 2024 season as the most wide open major conference in college football. Out of 16 teams in the expanded league, eight hold at least 12-1 odds to win the conference as founding members Texas and Oklahoma abdicate to join the SEC.
The Sunflower State makes its case as the center of the Big 12 world as Kansas State and Kansas both rank among the three programs with the best odds. However, the Pac-12 newcomers also give the conference some serious firepower in Year 1. Utah sits as a co-favorite with the ‘Cats, while Arizona is next in line at No. 4.
Last season, heavy preseason favorite Texas captured the crown after fielding +125 odds. However, Oklahoma State rose up from +2800 to reach the Big 12 title game. The year prior, Kansas State had +2500 odds, but shocked TCU in the title game to win its first Big 12 championship in a decade. Unquestionably, a team from well outside the pack has a chance to make its mark in 2024; but making that choice more complicated, only six total teams have worse than 20-1 odds.
Without further ado, here are the Big 12 title odds for 2024 according to SportsLine consensus and a few of the teams who could entice betters this offseason.
Best Bet — Utah (+350): On paper, Utah is the class of the Big 12. The Utes have won 39 games over the last four full seasons and won two of the three final Pac-12 titles. Utah’s offense was a liability last season, but get quarterback Cameron Rising and tight end Brant Kuithe back. USC transfer Dorian Singer headlines a trio of talented wide receivers who should immediately elevate what was the Pac-12’s worst passing offense. Under Kyle Whittingham, defense will never be an issue. Utah appears to be the most complete team in the conference and deserves top billing entering its first season in the Big 12.
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Worst Wager — Kansas (+650): Frankly, there isn’t a truly bad bet on the board. Eight teams — half the conference — have 12-to-1 odds or better, and deservedly so. Kansas emerging as the best team in the Big 12 wouldn’t be much of a surprise. Ultimately, the reason we have them as the worst wager comes down to one factor: Jalon Daniels. The Kansas quarterback is arguably the best offensive player in the conference when healthy, but missed the entire Big 12 slate last season with a nagging back injury. Unlike last season, Kansas does not have a clear backup plan, with former walk-on Cole Ballard as the likely backup. With such a big question mark, Kansas is slightly overvalued as the No. 3 betting favorite in the Big 12, ahead of Oklahoma State and Arizona.
Value Pick — Oklahoma State (+1200): The Cowboys may not be a sexy pick fresh off a trip to the Big 12 title game last season, but enough to drop to the seventh-best odds in the conference? Oklahoma State boasts the third-most returning production in the nation, headlined by superstar running back Ollie Gordon II and star edge rusher Collin Oliver. Defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo went through some growing pains in his first season, but the Cowboys found their groove as the season went on. If Oklahoma State can at least split a Big 12-opening run against Utah and Kansas State, the Cowboys will be right in the driver’s seat to return to the Big 12 Championship Game — and maybe win their first Big 12 title since 2011.
Long shot — Colorado (+4000): There are 10 teams with 20-1 or better odds, but for a true long shot, why not sprinkle a few dollars on Colorado? Granted, the Buffs’ path is incredibly difficult. There’s a chance things don’t click at all and CU is barely fighting for a bowl game. But if Colorado’s changes magically take hold, the Buffaloes boast one of the highest hypothetical ceilings in the Big 12. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders and cornerback Travis Hunter are future first rounders, the skill positions are strong and the trenches have been built from scratch (though we’ll see if this is a good thing). Essentially, this is a +4000 bet that five new offensive linemen can build chemistry in one offseason. It’s not a great bet, but certainly worth a shot at such long odds.
Jon Anderson will be charged with moving the Orem school forward following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on campus last year.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Incoming UVU President Jon Anderson poses for a photo with his family after an event announcing his selection at Utah Valley University in Orem on Friday, July 17, 2026.
BEAVER COUNTY, Utah — A massive community effort is underway as volunteers and Beaver County crews distribute thousands of sandbags to protect homes from the potential path of floodwaters.
After the Cottonwood Fires, residents have been waiting for weeks for relief to come in the form of rain, though officials now warn it may come all at once with an increased risk of flooding and debris flow.
Emergency Service Director Les Whitney believes that the fire has left plenty of debris to bring trouble for residents.
“We got a lot of water. We’re bringing debris with it, so tree branches, tree limbs, logs, lots of different size firewood, and that’s all in the creeks. We’re worried about that plugging up our bridges and stuff, so we have heavy equipment and excavators located in strategic places so that we can keep those bridges open,” said Whitney.
An estimated 140 homes and condominiums were spared from the flames, but remain in the paths of floodwaters.
Residents can also pick up sandbags at the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office or at the Beaver County Rodeo Fairgrounds.
EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man currently on pretrial release in 4th District Court who is accused of abusing his dog has been arrested again for allegedly punching the same animal.
Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated cruelty to an animal.
Utah County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a grocery store on a report that a man was beating his dog after it had gotten off its leash and was stopped by a bystander, according to a police booking affidavit.
“I reviewed security camera footage from the grocery store, and an individual matching the description of the suspect was seen holding the dog in the air by one paw and repeatedly striking the dog on the right hind leg area. I observed the male strike the dog several times before dropping the dog from approximately 1-2 feet. The strikes appeared to be as hard as the male could hit,” the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. “The dog did not cry out or whimper as if the dog was accustomed to the abuse.”
When questioned, Davis “admitted to striking the dog because it was not behaving,” the affidavit states.
An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.
In that case, Davis was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis’ home, according to charging documents. When questioned, Davis “acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment,” the charges state.
Deputies also reviewed videos that the neighbor had filmed. The neighbor told investigators “there was blood from the dog on the ground of the garage and (the neighbor) can hear the dog screaming as if it’s being hurt. Deputies got the videos from the (neighbor) and you can hear very loudly the dog screaming and crying with a lot of loud banging noises. In one of the videos, you can hear the dog sounding like it is being choked by a collar and is grasping for air,” a police booking affidavit states.
Davis’ next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28.
In their latest booking report, sheriff’s deputies note that they “believe further harm will be inflicted on this dog if it is released back to the male a second time,” and have recommended the dog not be returned to Davis.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
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