There's nothing wrong with some bargain shopping, even in college football. So be it with Washington, which made arguably the deal of the year in 2022 by luring head coach Kalen DeBoer from Fresno State. Costing less than half of what USC paid Lincoln Riley to make the jump from Oklahoma, DeBoer quickly resurrected a Huskies program that had jumped the rails after the ill-advised appointment of Jimmy Lake as the successor to Chris Petersen.
By the end of the season, most out west realized the Huskies were probably the best team in the Pac-12, especially after going into Eugene and taking out the favored Ducks, and doing the same in Pullman to rout the Apple Cup-rival Cougars in November. To confirm the perception, the Huskies went into enemy territory in San Antonio and took down former coach Steve Sarkisian and Texas in the Alamo Bowl, giving Washington its seventh straight win to close the campaign. Only a couple of midseason hiccups at UCLA and Arizona State prevented the team from making a serious run at the Pac-12's first playoff bid since Petersen's Huskies turned the trick in 2016...
Bruce Marshall's full breakdown of Washington's 2023 outlook, which includes how he's playing their win total, can be found below as part of SportsLine's preview of the Pac-12 season.
Pac-12 preview: Conference winner | Arizona | Arizona State | California | Colorado | Oregon | Oregon State | Stanford | UCLA | USC | Utah | Washington | Washington State
What do you need to know about Washington before locking in your Pac-12 futures bets? And which side of their win total makes for the best play? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Pac-12 futures betting strategy from a veteran college football expert!
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