All Access

All-Access Weekly Digest

Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City Members

Salt Lake City Alerts

Get smarter, faster on the most consequential news unfolding in Salt Lake City

Axios Salt Lake City Thought Bubble

Axios Salt Lake City

The Utah Jazz are arguably the most surprising team in the NBA. 

State of play: The Jazz are 3-1. And if you say you saw this coming, there's no way. 

How we got here: Utah went into full rebuild mode (at least we thought) when they traded their two best players Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell during the offseason. 

The schedule makers didn't give the Jazz an easy entry into the season either as three of their first four games were against playoff teams from last year. 

Yes, but: That hasn't mattered one bit. Utah won its first game of the season against the Denver Nuggets — who have the reigning MVP. 

They followed that up by beating Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

Yes, and: They won another road game against the much-improved New Orleans Pelicans.

What's next: Hopefully more wins. But that doesn't look likely. (I know, we got this wrong before game one, so you'd think we'd be better about predictions.)

But next up for the Jazz — a rematch with Houston Wednesday night, another game against the Nuggets and then two games against the Memphis Grizzlies. 

The Nuggets and Grizzlies are each expected to compete for an NBA title this year. 

Ross' thought bubble: Not saying all good things must come to an end, but they do. Enjoy this hot start to the season while you can, Jazz fans.  

But if they keep this up, Utah could have a player representing them at the All-Star game in Salt Lake City this year.

Home Court: The Utah Jazz's surprising start to the NBA season

The Utah Jazz are arguably the most surprising team in the NBA.

Jordan Clarkson No. 00 of the Utah Jazz reacts after scoring during overtime against the New Orleans Pelicans. Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Utah

Home Court

The Utah Jazz are arguably the most surprising team in the NBA. State of play: The Jazz are 3-1. And if you say you saw this coming, there&#x27;s no way.

Sports

The University of Utah Utes have an outside chance, at best, of making  the College Football Playoffs this year. 

Yes, but: It all comes down to Saturday's matchup against the Oregon Ducks. 

Why it matters: With two games left in the regular season, the Utes are running out of real estate to prove to the CFP selection committee they deserve a shot at a national championship. 

Having already lost two games, they need as many signature wins as they can get to bolster their resume. 

State of play: Enter the Ducks. They are currently ranked No. 12 in the AP's top 25 and CFP rankings. 

Utah is No. 10, according to AP and committee rankings.

A win on the road against a ranked team looks good on paper. Utah's lone win against a ranked team came against USC about a month ago. (A candidate for game of the year.)

That won’t get the job done given they lost to a ranked UCLA and an unranked Florida to start the season. 

What's at stake: Everything. The Utes won the Pac-12 championship for the first time in school history last year. A win at Oregon gives them a chance to defend their title. 

A Pac-12 championship also bolsters their chances of getting into the aforementioned CFP. 

Of note: They would need a lot of other scenarios to play out too.

What we're watching: How well they respond to the challenge. Utah has had a recent knack for making big games exciting. They lost a nailbiter to The Ohio State University in last year's Rose Bowl and won an exhilarating game against USC. 

But they need to be more than exciting in Eugene, Oregon. If they want to play in a major bowl game or compete for a national title, Saturday's game is a must-win.

How to watch: Kickoff is at 8:30pm on ESPN.  

Here's what's at stake when the Utes face the Oregon Ducks

The Utes college football playoff hopes come down to Saturday's matchup.

Devin Kaufusi, No. 90 of the Utah Utes, celebrates their win over the Stanford Cardinal. Photo by Chris Gardner/ Getty Images.

The University of Utah Utes have an outside chance, at best, of making the College Football Playoffs this year. <ul><li>Yes, but: It all comes down to Saturday&#x27;s matchup against the Oregon Ducks. </li></ul>

The Utah Jazz tip off their 2022-23 season Wednesday night at home against the Denver Nuggets. 

Catch up quick: This Jazz is officially in rebuild mode. After winning 49 games last season, the team lost in the first round of the playoffs to a Dallas Mavericks team that played the first three games without its superstar Luka Dončić. 

During the offseason, head coach Quin Snyder stepped down and the team traded its top two players — center Rudy Gobert and guard Donovan Mitchell — and key rotation guy Bojan Bogdanović. 

The biggest question left for the team is just how much will they commit to tanking for a high draft pick next summer. 

Yes, but: The Jazz have a chance to pull off a win (and upset) to start the season. 

Underrated talent. No one has seen this group share the floor before in meaningful games. Players like Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen and Talen Horton-Tucker are still young and have a lot to prove in this league. 

Jordan Clarkson. The former Sixth Man of the Year is still around. And he is a walking bucket — meaning points will be abundant anytime he steps on the floor. Expect him to play a bigger role in crunch time as the Jazz could turn to him to take and make big shots. 

Run, run and run some more. On paper, the Nuggets are clearly the better team. But Jamal Murray missed all of last season with an ACL injury. And Michael Porter Jr. played in just nine games. If the Jazz turn this into a track meet and test the conditioning of those two plus big man Nikola Jokić, they may have the slightest chance. 

The other side: Our colleagues at Axios Denver seem to think the Jazz have no chance. Axios' John Frank gives us his reasons why the Nuggets will win. 

Here in Denver, we keep our stars, and Nikola Jokić will show you how that looks. He averaged 27 points a game last season.

The Nuggets score 113 points per 100 possessions, making them the most efficient offensive team in the league for the last five seasons, per NBA.com. Meanwhile, the Jazz ranked second in the league for points allowed over the last five seasons.

The Nuggets are the team of now with a healthy Murray and Porter Jr. The Jazz are the team of the distant future, their fortunes tied up in their 18 first-round draft picks in the next seven years.

The takeaway: Nuggets will stand atop the Western Conference at the end of the season, thanks to a mountain of victories this season against the Jazz (at least John thinks.)

Of note: The Nuggets are only favored by 8 points. Doesn't sound like the oddsmakers have too much faith in them just yet.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to show the Jazz start the season at home, not on the road. And to show that Jordan Clarkson is the former Sixth Man of the Year, not reigning. 

Home Court: Get ready for the Utah Jazz season opener

The Utah Jazz tip off their 2022-23 season Wednesday night on the road against the Denver Nuggets.

Jordan Clarkson, of the Utah Jazz, holds a basketball during a game.

Jordan Clarkson. Photo: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images

The Utah Jazz tip off their 2022-23 season Wednesday night at home against the Denver Nuggets. Catch up quick: This Jazz is officially in rebuild mode. After winning 49 games last season, the team lost in the first round of the playoffs to a Dallas Mavericks team that played the first three games without its superstar Luka Dončić.

The University of Utah is headed back to the Rose Bowl for the second year in a row.

They will take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in the "Grandaddy of Them All" on Jan. 2 at 3pm. 

The Utes and Penn State have never faced each other. 

Catch up fast: Utah defended its Pac 12 title in dominating fashion by beating USC 47-24 in the conference championship Friday in Las Vegas.

It was the second time this season the Utes beat the Trojans. 

Get smart: Utah's season started off with a road loss against the Florida Gators. 

They won four straight before losing to UCLA. They won four straight again after that loss before suffering a defeat at the hands of Oregon. 

Now, the Utes get a chance to come back from their loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl last year.   

Of note: BYU will face SMU in the New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 17. 

That game will be played in Albuquerque. Kickoff is at 12:15pm.  

University of Utah to face Penn State in the Rose Bowl

The Utes and Penn State have never faced each other.

Utah celebrates winning the Pac 12 championship 

College football

The University of Utah is headed back to the Rose Bowl for the second year in a row.<ul><li>They will take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in the &quot;Grandaddy of Them All&quot; on Jan. 2 at 3pm. </li></ul>

Data: Axios research; Table: Kavya Beheraj/Axios

The Utah Jazz are off to a surprising start to this NBA season, despite their current three-game losing streak. 

After trading their two best players in the offseason, they won 10 of their first 13 games. 

Driving the news: We decided to come up with a new way to track the team's success this season: Jazz vs. Axios Local. 

Axios Local currently has daily newsletters in 24 U.S. cities. Of those markets, 14 have an NBA team.  

The chart above shows all the teams in our markets and the Jazz's current record against them. We'll update it every few weeks. 

What we're watching: Maybe after this season, the Axios SLC crew will have some bragging rights.  Currently, that honor sits with our friends in Boston as the Celtics have the NBA's best record.

What's happening: So far, the Jazz have played nine games against teams in other Axios markets. They have gone 4-5 in those matchups. 

Utah has fared better at home, winning their first two matchups against other Axios teams in Salt Lake City. But they've won just two of seven on the road.

They've also bested three teams who are expected to make legitimate playoff runs this season: Denver, Atlanta and Minnesota.

What's next: The Jazz still have 28 games left against other Axios cities including Friday night's matchup against the Phoenix Suns at Vivint Arena. 

According to ESPN, the Jazz have a 57% chance to win. And since it's a home game, we'll take those odds. 

Home Court: Utah Jazz vs. Axios Local

We decided to come up with a new way to track the team's success this season.

A table showing Utah Jazz's upcoming matches against 14 other Axios Local cities.

The Utah Jazz are off to a surprising start to this NBA season, despite their current three-game losing streak. <ul><li>After <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="trading their two best" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2022/09/01/utah-jazz-trade-donovan-mitchell-cleveland-signal-rebuild" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2022/09/01/utah-jazz-trade-donovan-mitchell-cleveland-signal-rebuild" target="_self">trading their two best</a> players in the offseason, they won 10 of their first 13 games. </li></ul>

Ross Terrell

Featured stories

University of Utah to face Penn State in the Rose Bowl

Home Court: Utah Jazz vs. Axios Local

Here's what's at stake when the Utes face the Oregon Ducks

Home Court: The Utah Jazz's surprising start to the NBA season

Home Court: Get ready for the Utah Jazz season opener