For the first time in Big Ten history, the Oregon vs. Washington rivalry will take center stage in the final week of the regular season with a likely playoff berth on the line for the Ducks.
It's hard to believe that these two teams were playing for a Pac-12 title 12 months ago but a lot has changed as the Huskies lost head coach Kalen DeBoer to Alabama and Michael Penix Jr. to the NFL and Oregon lost Bo Nix to the Denver Broncos and yet the Ducks are the No. 1 team in the nation.
Oregon has gotten better since last year while the Huskies underwent some major changes, including one at head coach that has had a massive impact.
The 11-0 Ducks are looking for revenge after losing twice to Washington a year ago while the 6-5 Huskies are trying to improve bowl seeding and spoil Oregon's perfect season while improving to 4-0 against Dan Lanning. That's right, Lanning has yet to beat Washington as head coach and if that drought continues, I can tell you there will be some very unhappy fans in Eugene.
Before we can even talk about that, let's see how Vegas sees this matchup.
Note: Odds courtesy of DraftKings as of Nov. 30.
Line: Oregon -17.5
Over/Under: 51
Moneyline: Oregon -1050 | Washington +675
The Ducks are expected to win comfortably as the Huskies are experiencing an off year but you can never really count anyone out in a rivalry game -- no matter how big the underdog. I do see Oregon taking 2-3 quarters to really turn up the pressure and put the Huskies away which might agitate some fans, but it'll be yet another double-digit win in Big Ten play and a locked-up playoff berth as the reward.
Prediction: Washington 17, Oregon 34