2. Washington at Oregon (+3)
The Washington Huskies have just one loss on the season, falling in their opener to the Auburn Tigers, who were ranked as a top-10 team at the time. With their unbeaten performance since then, Jake Browning and Co. have climbed to the seventh spot in the latest AP Top 25 poll. With their experience, coaching and playmakers, it’s not hard to see on the surface why they have backers in terms of the rankings.
Having said that, what they’ve actually shown on the field in accruing their wins has been less than impressive for a top-10 team. Outside of an impressive victory at home against BYU two weeks ago, this Washington team has left a lot to be desired. That includes beating an Arizona State team that appears decidedly mediocre by just seven points at home and then allowing a winless UCLA Bruins team to almost come back last week on the road.
Now the Huskies are again going to be on the road, this time going into the unfriendly confines of Autzen Stadium to face an Oregon Ducks team that many people are sleeping on. This has all the makings of a back-to-Earth moment for Washington.
Justin Herbert and the Ducks should be undefeated if not for a defensive collapse and untimely offensive mistakes against Stanford three weeks ago. However, they bounced back on the road against Cal the next week and had a week off to prepare for this game. With the Pac-12 looking wide open right now, I think the Ducks make a statement as home underdogs and win outright.