Game: Washington Huskies at Arizona Wildcats
Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
Odds: Huskies -18, Wildcats +18
Total: 46.5
Washington travels to Arizona for a Pac-12 clash between two teams that haven’t had the greatest of seasons thus far. The Huskies were ranked in the initial preseason Top 25 at No. 20. A Week 2 game against Michigan was one of the more anticipated early-season matchups. Then, Montana came to town.
Washington lost to the Grizzlies 13-7 and then got blown out by Michigan 31-10 in Week 2. The Huskies salvaged some pride by beating the worst defense in the country in Arkansas State and then defeated Cal the following week. The Huskies defense has helped them keep games close, but Washington has lost its last two in a row to Oregon State and UCLA.
At 2-4, the Huskies are much better off than Arizona. The Wildcats are winless in six games. One of those losses, like Washington, was to an FCS program – Northern Arizona. With those six losses, Arizona has now lost 10 games in a row. With three straight losses to Oregon, UCLA, and Colorado; the Wildcats have now dropped 15 straight games in the Pac-12.
It’s a combination of bad offense and bad defense for Arizona. The Wildcats offense has been very ineffective and only averages 14 points per game. That is dead last out of all teams in the FBS. The defense isn’t much better allowing opponents to score 32 points a game. That ranks in the bottom fourth of the country.
The Huskies are not an offensive juggernaut either. Washington averages 23.5 points per game. After scoring 17 points combined in their first two games of the season, the Huskies have been better. They did combine for 83 points in their wins over Arkansas State and Cal, two teams with a combined one win. That is one more win than Arizona has though.
Neither team has been very good against the spread recently. Washington is 1-7 ATS in its last eight games. Ironically, the last time the Huskies covered a game prior to their last eight was against Arizona. Washington won last year 44-27 as a 12-point favorite. The only game the Huskies covered this year was the 52-3 win over Arkansas State. Arizona is just 2-8 ATS in its last ten games.
Tonight’s total is now 46.5 which speaks volumes about how these two teams are viewed. These two offenses don’t even average 40 points a game combined. Washington tends to play lower-scoring games as its defense has been good enough to keep the Huskies in some games. Five of Washington’s six games this season have gone Under the total.
Arizona doesn’t have the defense of Washington, but the Wildcats score a lot less. Like the Huskies, the Wildcats have trended toward the Under recently. Going back to last season, the Under has hit in 10 of the last 14 Arizona games. Washington has yet to win a road game this season. The Huskies are 0-2 away from home.