That seems high, right? We’re talking about a team with a new head coach, new offensive and defensive coordinators, and a new quarterback whose first college start will be whenever he steps onto the field on September 5th (assuming football is being played that day, of course).
Of course, there’s something to be said for what continuity we do have: Chris Petersen retired and a lot of guys just moved up one level within the organization (including Jimmy Lake, our new head coach). There’s also something to be said for addition by subtraction: Bush Hamdan being fired is almost definitely a plus, regardless of WHO takes his place. And, sure, I’ll buy that there’s a solid core of guys on this team that’s held over from last year; it’s not all about who’s under center in college football, not by a long shot.
The Huskies’ odds are 7/2, according to the William Hill sportsbook. That’s behind only Oregon (11/5) and USC (5/2), two teams who figure to be pretty great once again in 2020. They were 8-1 and 7-2 respectively in conference last year; the Huskies were a disappointing 4-5.
I don’t know if there’s ANY scenario where I’d be comfortable with the Huskies being rated this highly, but I’ll tell you this much: I don’t like these odds when we’re talking about extremely limited pre-season training camp/practice time! Of the three quarterbacks who have yet to start a college football game, I’d like them to compete a LITTLE bit before we hit the ground running against Michigan in the first week of the season!
Going forward, we’re talking about just the three games’ worth of warm-up before we go on the road to face prohibitive favorite Oregon. We also have to play last year’s Pac-12 South champions in the Utah Utes, this year’s Pac-12 South favorites USC, and a VERY strong Pac-12 North sleeper in Cal … ALL on the road. I could see us losing every single one of those games if things don’t pan out! That doesn’t even factor in going on the road in the Apple Cup, to face a Cougs team that’s absolutely STARVING to beat the Huskies for the first time since 2012!
To round out the betting odds, we’ve got:
- Utah (5/1)
- Arizona State (10/1)
- Washington State (15/1)
- UCLA (18/1)
- Cal (18/1)
- Arizona (25/1)
- Stanford (30/1)
- Oregon State (75/1)
- Colorado (150/1)
If I had to risk the Taylor Family Farm once again on these longer shots, sign me up for Cal in a heartbeat. Utah strikes me as a fool’s errand. I don’t know if I buy ASU as a true contender (though, in the Pac-12 South, you never know). I also wouldn’t sleep on WSU. Feels like a longer shot than Cal, but ALL of their toughest games are at home, plus they somehow avoided USC on their schedule.
Regardless, unless the odds go way down, I don’t think I’d be comfortable putting any money on the Huskies as it stands now.