5 college football bets to take to the bank in Conference Championship Week

2. Pac-12 Championship, Utah vs. Washington (-5.5)

In years past, the Pac-12 has largely been the younger cousin of the Big 12 in terms of the way that games have been played. There has often been games that have featured a ton of scoring and high-powered offenses. While the Washington Huskies and Utah Utes are both capable of putting up a big number on the scoreboard, they have thrived off of their defense for the most part. As such, this game will likely be a low-scoring affair.

With that, it figures that the point spread would be less than a full touchdown as the Huskies are favored by 5.5 points. However, it is worth mentioning that the Utes were toppled at home early in the 2018 regular season by this Washington team, getting overwhelmed by the Huskies to the tune of a 21-7 game.

Of course, in the Pac-12 Championship Game, the stakes are higher and, what’s more, the Utes played much better to end the season than they did early in the year where they had some stumbles. Having said that, this Washington defense has only gotten better since then, most recently stifling Mike Leach’s potent Washington State offense in the snow, holding them to just 15 points.

While there won’t be any snow in this game at Levi’s stadium, I just don’t see Utah being able to muster up enough offense to match what Washington should be able to do when they have the ball, even if they aren’t overwhelming. And with that, the Huskies should win by a touchdown or more.