This article recaps the editorial and Perry's Power Guide picks from The Rush's Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026 episode. Watch The Rush on YouTube.
The Rush has tracked average margins in Utah football all season, and the first round of the playoffs doesn't look much closer. Across 40 games this week, the average predicted margin in Perry's Power Guide is 25.9 points. Seventeen of the 40 are predicted to be decided by 28 or more.
By classification, 4A is the bright spot at 16 points. 3A, already in the quarterfinals, sits at 12. 2A averages 39, 1A 28 and 8-man 32, and 6A and 5A are both at 25 or more. "Anything less than 20, we're happy about," Andy said.
Still better than it used to be
Andy said the move to 16-team brackets has helped. "You have to earn your playoff spot, which is a huge improvement for what it used to be, which was everybody gets to the playoffs basically," he said. Some classifications have fewer than 16 teams, though, so almost everyone gets in. The UHSAA plans realignment tweaks, adding factors like socioeconomics and competitive history. Andy hopes they bring margins down.
The closest games on the board
5A: Box Elder is a 0.7-point favorite over Woods Cross and its triple option. Pleasant Grove, the 10 seed, is an 8-point favorite at No. 7 Spanish Fork.
4A: Stansbury is a 1.2-point favorite over Provo and Skyline is a 1.3-point favorite over Pine View. Highland is a 2-point favorite over Bear River, and Mountain Crest at Salem Hills is a 2-point spread.
6A: Lone Peak is a 6-point favorite over Lehi, after a seven-point regular-season game. Syracuse and Westlake are at 9.7. "Anything under 10 in the playoffs first round is a victory for us," Andy said.
3A: Juab is an 11-point favorite over Ogden, which lost to Logan by one point in the regular season.
The double-digit seed nobody wants
Asked for the most dangerous double-digit seed, Andy picked No. 11 Syracuse in 6A. He called Westlake legit on both sides of the ball and noted it was the only team to slow down Mountain Ridge all season. But Syracuse has QB Ledger Wight and receiver Kaleb Hall. "I think that game is scary for Westlake because Syracuse can put up a ton of points," Andy said.
And what wins playoff games? Andy said defense, because it can change the most from week to week. "You can do a bunch of weird, exotic stuff that nobody's seen on tape before," he said.
For a closer look at two 4A toss-ups, read our Pine View-Skyline and Provo-Stansbury breakdown. Full brackets are at the UHSAA.