Utah, Not Jim Harbaugh, Is the Most Important Thing to Watch on Opening Night

We've once again made it through another offseason and finally can put a halt to the bloviating and pondering to sit down and watch a real, live, actual football game Thursday night.

One of the most anticipated contests of Week 1 has been the debut of Jim Harbaugh as the head coach at his alma mater, Michigan. You'd actually be hard-pressed not to know the game is happening judging by the amount of media coverage that has been generated by Harbaughmania.

While the return of a conquering hero (in the minds of the Maize and Blue faithful) is a notable storyline, it is not the only one. In fact, if that's all you know about the game, you might want to keep an eye out for the home team.

Rick Bowmer/Associated Press

You know, the one that we know is actually good.

The Utes aren't ranked in the Top 25 to start the year, but they should be, and they enter 2015 as one of a number of teams which legitimately earn the label of "Pac-12 contender." Head coach Kyle Whittingham's squad is coming off a 9-4 season, has a ton of starters returning and will be led on the field by a Heisman hopeful in running back Devontae Booker.

Their schedule is manageable—Arizona State and UCLA both come to Rice-Eccles Stadium this year—and the team's depth is finally up to conference standards in a Power Five league. Quarterback Travis Wilson will start under center for his senior season and, if nothing else, has plenty of experience.

The defense will miss defensive end Nate Orchard and his FBS-leading sack total from 2014, but it still returns enough to be one of the saltier units opposing offenses will face. The only ones who may be paying attention to such facts are those in Las Vegas, who installed Utah as a five-point favorite, per Odds Shark.

Sadly for the Utes, the most notable media coverage they've gotten about their opener may have been about cupcakes. Yes, cupcakes.

In this month's edition of Popular Mechanics, editors noted the college football season will get underway with Michigan taking on a "cupcake" opponent in Utah. The line did not go unnoticed in Salt Lake City, and it was promptly posted on the team's bulletin board, according to Salt Lake City Fox 13's Jeff Rhineer.

While the team later had a good laugh over the whole matter, the incident was indicative of what many fans are thinking coming into the game: Michigan, Michigan and more Michigan.

Even Fox Sports, which is broadcasting the game, has trotted out a Harbaugh-inspired bus with a khaki paint scheme to promote the game. Tune in to a show on the network this week, and you could even be treated to a promo shot of a handful of people dressed up like the Wolverines' new coach—complete with a whistle. Heck, Fox Sports' press release for the game noted the company would be tracking Harbaugh's every move by streaming a camera locked on the coach that it dubbed the "Khaki Cam."

There was no mention of any Whitting Cam, of course.

Despite all the attention on Big Blue, you won't find the Utes playing the "overlooked card" as motivation.

"Our guys know what's out there," Whittingham said on Tuesday's Pac-12 conference call. "You shouldn't really need much to motivate a football team to get ready for a game like this. We've just been going through our normal preparation process."

Every opener is big. It sets the tone for the season. This game, however, means far more for Utah than for the rebuilding Big Blue program. Expectations are high long term for Michigan but decidedly midlevel for 2015.

That isn't the case for Utah, which is looking to prove last season's breakthrough campaign in the Pac-12 was no fluke.

Harbaugh is a legitimate national storyline to follow this season as he tries to revive a historic power in Michigan. Don't be surprised if the Wolverines are better than expected record-wise (they have plenty of top recruits on the roster, after all) and play well in the opener and beyond.

Just remember that as you settle in to watch Utah and Michigan on Thursday night, the game isn't all about the Maize and Blue. The home team will shape the national landscape of the college football season more on the field than Harbaugh's khaki's ever will off it.