Why go with the mildly slumping favorite handing points to the hot underdog? Easy. Washington owns perhaps the largest home-road disparity in FBS: 5-0 straight-up (and 4-1 ATS) in Seattle, 0-5 elsewhere. Their last home loss was 20 games ago. QB Will Rogers was shaky in recent defeats to Penn State and Indiana, but those are top-five teams. While the Bruins have won three in a row outright, none of the conquests (Rutgers, Nebraska, Iowa) was earth-shattering. With Seattle temperatures projected in the low-to-mid 40s, home field should be further enhanced against the visitors from warm Southern California.

UCLA has completely turned its season around, but UW has won 19 straight at home, and this season the Huskies are averaging 28.4 points per game at home compared to 15.2 points on the road or at neutral sites. It's a "Blackout" game in the home finale. The Huskies have to win this to have a realistic shot at a bowl because their last game is at No. 1 Oregon, and they aren't winning that. The Bruins aren't good against the pass, ranking 114th in yards allowed per game, while UW has the No. 3 pass defense in the country.

Can the home-field edge be this important to U-Dub, which hasn't lost in Husky Stadium this season...or won a game away from Montlake? No doubting the results, but the Huskies aren't really passing the eye test these days, and HC Jedd Fisch again pulled QB Will Rogers last Saturday at Penn State. The real storyline here is the revival of the Bruins, who have not only won three straight but covered seven in a row (counts Minnesota a W). DeShaun Foster has kept his team enthused and animated, and the dormant infantry reappeared last week vs. Iowa's rugged defense as TJ Harden banged out 125 YR. Moreover, the Bruins' swarming defense is wreaking havoc with its aggression and various jail-break blitzes. Play UCLA

Washington has offered of the more predictable performance trends in college football this season. The retooling Huskies have beaten marginal opponents at home while struggling on the road against Big Ten competition. With Oregon looming next week, this is their last and only chance to secure a bowl bid. Look for them to do so against a UCLA club that has made a remarkable turnaround but is unlikely to duplicate its performance in its signature win last week over Iowa.