No. 1 – Washington Huskies
Conference: Pac-12
2018 Record: 10-4 (7-2)
Game Info: October 12 (Saturday) | TBD | Tucson, AZ
Record vs Stanford: 11-1-21 (Washington won the last match-up 35-28 in OT in Tucson in 2016)
This one seems like a no brainer. The Huskies are coming off a 10-win season in which they won the Pac-12 and made the Rose Bowl as well.
It’s worth noting, that the Huskies lose Jake Browning at quarterback, but in all honesty, their biggest loss is at running back, as Myles Gaskin will no longer be in the Huskies’ backfield.
While those losses are significant, I don’t see the Huskies taking much of a step back, if at all. Washington will use Georgia transfer Jacob Eason at quarterback, and will replace Gaskin with a dynamic runner in Salvon Ahmed.
Defensively, they do lose some valuable pieces, but should have a good core of talent and proven edge rushers to be pretty good there.
The Huskies have talent, they’re well-coached and are proven winners under head coach Chris Petersen. It should be no stretch that Washington are once again favorites in the Pac-12, and will be Arizona’s toughest opponent in 2019.
At Zona Zealots, we’re excited to see how the Wildcats do in 2019 and hope they can put together a solid season! As always, Bear Down, Arizona