Utah vs Washington 2018 PAC-12 Championship Lines & Preview

The Pac-12 will miss the College Football Playoff for a second straight season, so don’t be surprised if you start hearing expansion rumors again. The conference season concludes on Friday night from outside San Francisco with No. 10 Washington facing No. 17 Utah. The winner heads to the Rose Bowl and Mybookie Sportsbook oddsmakers expect that to be the Huskies.

Utah vs Washington 2018 PAC-12 Championship Lines & Preview

Here’s the full #CFBPlayoff Top 2️⃣5️⃣ rankings for games played through November 24.

Is your team in? 👀 pic.twitter.com/L3TlkqmqCA — College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) 28 de noviembre de 2018

• When: Friday, 8 PM ET
• Where: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara
• TV: Fox
• Radio: TuneIn
• NCAA Football Week 14 Lines: UW -5 (Total 44.5)

Weather Forecast

• Partly Cloudy: 11°C/51°F
• Humidity: 79%
• Precipitation: 8%
• Cloud Cover: 54%
• Wind: 4 mph W

Last Meeting

On Sept. 15, Utah lost 21-7 at home to Washington. The Utes started all three fourth-quarter drives inside the Washington 35 yard line but went 0-of-3 on fourth down on each drive. Washington’s defensive effort complimented Myles Gaskin’s dominance in the backfield. Gaskin ran for 143 yards on 30 carries and added a touchdown. Jake Browning threw for 155 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Aaron Fuller led the way with 108 yards on six catches. It was UW’s third straight win in the series and it’s now 11-1 all-time vs. Utah.

The Utes fell to 0-4 all-time against ranked Washington teams after generating 261 total yards. Zack Moss rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Tyler Huntley threw for just 138 yards with one interception and added 40 yards on the ground. Both Moss and Huntley are now out for the season.

Why Bet on Utah?

Both teams are 9-3, but Washington is just 3-9 against the spread this year, with the Apple Cup win representing the Huskies’ first cover in seven games. Utah went 7-5 ATS en route to becoming the last Pac-12 South team to claim the division.

The Utes were out of conference last week, beating rival BYU 35-27, rallying from a 20-point hole. The 20-point scoring swing was the second-largest deficit that the Utes have overcome for a win in program history with the school record at 27 points. After only having 86 yards of total offense in the first half, Utah scored 35 unanswered points and held BYU to just 110 yards in the second half for the victory.

Jason Shelley finished the game 19-for-28 passing for 141 yards and a touchdown, adding a career-high 61 yards rushing with a 33-yard rushing touchdown at the end of the game. Armand Shyne was also key in the ground game, notching 15 carries for 47 yards and two touchdowns.

Shelley, who became the starting quarterback after Tyler Huntley’s injury on Nov. 3, did not play in the earlier game against Washington. Utah has won seven of its last eight games since losses on back-to-back weeks against the Washington schools in September. Utah’s 6-3 Pac-12 record matches its best league mark. The Utes were also 6-3 in 2015 when they were co-champs in the Pac-12 South with USC. Utah is 1-0 in Levi’s Stadium with a win over Indiana in the 2016 Foster Farms Bowl.

Utah will play in a bowl game for the 13th time under coach Kyle Whittingham. Whittingham has the best bowl winning percentage in NCAA history (92%) and his 11 bowl wins (11-1) is tied for second among active coaches.

Why Bet on Washington?

The Huskies upset Washington State in the Apple Cup last week 28-15 in the snow to clinch the Pac-12 North. Myles Gaskin broke free for an 80-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. It was Washington’s sixth straight win over the Cougars and the third straight year the Huskies denied Washington State the North crown. Gaskin rushed for 170 yards and three touchdowns, a year after running for 192 yards and four scores against the Cougars.

During Friday’s win, Gaskin also passed 1,000 yards for the season, making him the first Pac-12 player ever to rush for 1,000 yards in four straight seasons. He also moved past the 5,000 career yards milestone (5,131) and into third on the Pac-12’s career TDs list. Lastly, Gaskin also took over the third spot on the Pac-12 career rushing TDs list with 55.

The Huskies rushed for 258 yards in the snow and have 533 yards rushing in the past two games. Jake Browning threw for 207 yards, overcoming an interception and fumble to finish his career 4-0 as the Huskies starting QB against their rivals.

Browning won his 38th game as a starting QB in the Apple Cup, the highest win total by any QB in Pac-12 history. Browning broke the UW career passing yards record in the BYU game, passing Cody Pickett. Browning’s 11,796 career yards are 6th-most in Pac-12 history. With 94 career touchdown passes, he’s also 6th in Pac-12 history. Browning is just the sixth player in Pac-12 history to account for 100 touchdowns (110 total: 94 pass, 16 rush).

Washington won its only previous Pac-12 Championship game against Colorado in 2016.

Utah vs Washington NCAA Football Betting Trends

• Utes are 10-3-1 ATS vs. a team with a winning record
• Utes are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games overall
• Huskies are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 Friday games
• Huskies are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up win
• Underdog is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 meetings
• Over is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings
• Utah is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Utah’s last 6 games
• Washington is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games
• The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Washington’s last 12 games

Expert Prediction for Utah vs Washington

Love under the total … and also take UW.