On one hand, the Washington Huskies have not played well at all the past two weeks. On the other hand, Alex Grinch still coaches the USC defense, and the Trojans have been a mediocre team (at best) for one and a half months.
What are the odds of USC pulling the upset against the Huskies? We asked our Pac-12 football panel:
Matt Zemek: 10 percent. USC has a puncher’s chance because it has Caleb Williams and is at home against a Washington team which played bad games against Arizona State and Stanford, but if Washington plays even remotely well — let’s say a B-minus-level game — USC will have to be perfect. The Trojans have been nothing close to perfect since the Stanford game on September 9.
Zachary Neel: I’m not going to lie, I think the odds should be pretty high. Washington has not looked right since the Oregon game, and I know part of that has to do with Michael Penix Jr. dealing with an illness. But we just saw USC score 32 points against Utah’s defense, and I think that Utah’s defense is far better than Washington’s defense. This is going to be a high-scoring game, and unless the Huskies’ offense looks like the 2019 LSU Tigers once again, there could seriously be an upset brewing. ESPN’s FPI currently gives USC a 54% chance of winning, and I’m not surprised by it.
Matt Wadleigh: Oddly enough, I have the odds at 50%. Will USC really lose three of four? Something has to click eventually, and maybe the Trojans piece it all together for the biggest win of Lincoln Riley’s 2023 season.
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