Washington Win-Total Prediction
After reaching the College Football Playoffs in 2016, will the Washington Huskies have what it takes to make a return trip in 2017?
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, Washington is listed with 22/1 odds to win the College Football Playoffs. The Huskies are getting +160 odds to win the Pac-12, while their over/under total for wins is listed at 10. The over is set at -200, while the under is listed at +160.
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Chris Petersen is entering his fourth season as coach of Washington. He has gone 27-14 overall in his three years, including a 16-11 record in the Pac-12. After slightly winnings seasons in 2014 and 2015, Petersen saw the Huskies break out for a 12-2 record. Washington won the Pac-12 and then reached the playoffs and lost to Alabama in the semifinals, 24-7.
Washington had a solid offense in the 2016 season, averaging 41.8 points and 457 yards per game. This year’s team brings back one of the top quarterbacks from 2016 in Jake Browning. As a sophomore, he threw for 3,430 yards and 43 touchdowns with only nine interceptions. While leading receiver John Ross is gone, Dante Pettis is back. He had 53 receptions for 822 yards and 15 touchdowns. Chico McClatcher was third in receiving with 31 receptions for 574 yards and five touchdowns. He also is back. Also back is Myles Gaskin, who rushed for 1,373 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2016. Defensively, Washington allowed 316 yards and 17.2 points per game in the 2016 season. This unit has suffered a lot of departures from last year’s team. One returning player is Tevis Bartlett, who had nine tackles for loss and four sacks in 2016. Vita Vea is also back. He has 39 tackles with 6.5 tackles for loss and sacks.
The non-conference schedule for Washington is pretty light. The Huskies will travel to Rutgers and then host Montana and Fresno State. Pac-12 road trips will be made to Colorado, Oregon State, Arizona State and Stanford. The Huskies will host Cal, UCLA, Oregon, Utah and Washington State. While the Huskies have a tremendous quarterback in Browning, it is a lot to ask them to get to 11 wins. They couldn’t have played much better last season and only had 12. The Pac-12 is a conference where teams can make big strides and take big losses year-to-year. I worry that the Washington defense is going to take a big step back, which will put a lot on Browning to carry this team each week. Eventually he will have some off games. I don’t think Washington looks so outstanding on paper that I can see them going over 10 wins.
2017 WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: WASHINGTON UNDER 10 (+160)