Who Wins The Apple Cup? WSU Of Course

Washington (8-3) at Washington State (10-1)

This is the game of the year in the Pac12, between the two best teams in the conference. The winner of this game, known as the Apple Cup, is the king of the Pac12 North and, next week, plays Pac12 South leader Utah for the conference championship. The Apple Cup winner is really the conference champ. Next week's game is anti-climactic. Either Washington team should dominate Utah.

State has, by far, the best offense in the Pac12, averaging 40.5 points per game. It's mostly via passing, lead by QB Gardner Minshew, who is on a roll. Last week he passed for 473 yards and seven TDs, while State piled up 69 points against Pac12 patsy Arizona. In his last two  games he has passed for 9TDs and no INTs. In his last four, he's been picked off just once.

Lately the Cougars.led by Minshew's passing, have been steamrolling teams. But they won't walk all over the Huskies, who have the league's best defense. The last time State played a defense of this caliber, Cal's--which is a notch less potent than the Huskies'--the Cougars barely won. Washington will certainly slow down the Cougars' explosive passing offense. Meanwhile, the Huskies won't be scoring a lot of points. The Cougars have the second best defense in the Pac12,  so Washington's very average offense, headed by veteran QB Jake Browning, won't do a whole lot of damage'

Look for an intense, grueling, tight game with both teams scoring in the 20s. State's home field advantage will be crucial. So will Browning's veteran leadership. Like all these rivalry games this one can go either way. But playing in Pullman should tip the scales in State's favor.