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Seeing the Utes picked No. 2 in the preseason poll brought out the competitive spirit in Utah defensive back Brandon Burton, who was representing the Utes at media day along with offensive lineman Zane Taylor.

"It's a motivator, I'm not going to lie," he said. "At the same time you can't let it overcome you, you still have to play your game. I'm not really into the whole poll thing, but second isn't bad, especially behind a team like TCU but we want to come out on top." Taylor agreed with Burton in that the Utes might have been slighted a bit, noting their preseason ranking 'could have been higher.' TCU returns seven starters on defensive and nine on offense while the Utes return eight on offense and four on defense. However, the Utes get TCU at home, which will make for a difficult game, TCU coach Gary Patterson said. TCU is 0-3 at Utah and 2-5 against the Utes overall. Patterson said the conference rivalry between the schools was more important to him than the preseason polls or the talk of the Utes moving to the Pac-10 next year.

I am going to try and beat Utah so we can win a conference title, that is all I care about," he said. "It's going to be hard because it's up in Salt Lake." While Burton and Taylor have shuffled from one media blitz to another, they have had some down time to enjoy Las Vegas. Monday night many of the players went bowling together then took in some of the sights and sounds on the Vegas strip. "Just getting to know guys outside of football has been great," Burton said. "We have rarely talked about football since I have been here." Taylor said the players have avoided such talk because they are so immersed in the sport otherwise, they don't want to think about it during their time away. "I don't even watch football," he said. "When I get home I turn on the Simpsons or something. We are all kind of the same way, we talk about our lives outside of football. It's too much almost to talk football."