Northwest Sports Update

Some Bet Online reviews of Washington’s 2011 season would point to a defense that couldn’t stop anyone, but this year’s unit should be much better and the Huskies are garnering talk of being a sleeper in the Pac-12. The Huskies probably won’t win the division, but eight wins is attainable, possibly nine.

The offense may have to replace two of their three starters at receiver and a star at running back in Chris Polk, but quarterback Keith Price should be on the radar of those that use price per head (read more on price per head systems) systems, especially after his duel with Heisman winner Robert Griffin III of Baylor in the most entertaining bowl game of last season. The replacements at receiver are all solid recruits and furthermore, whoever is the running back will be behind a line with four returning starters. Online college football betting players know that having experience up front can go a long way for a team, especially if they have to fill holes elsewhere and the offensive line could be the reason that the Huskies really don’t fall that much in terms of offense.

The defense was absolutely atrocious at times last year, but this year’s unit will be anchored by a secondary that could be one of the best in the country. All four starters are back and they also have a few recruits that could step into the nickel and dime packages, and that will come in handy when the Huskies face off against USC, the NCAA football betting favorites in the Pac-12 and for the national title as well as they return off a postseason ban. Four of the front seven from last year return and that should help them improve, but Washington also have to navigate a new system under coordinator Justin Wilcox, who is going from a 4-3 to a 3-4.

The problem with Washington this year is that they have an insane start to their season. Four of their first six games feature LSU (road), Stanford (home), Oregon (road) and USC (home); that’s three national-title contenders in the first half of the schedule. If the Huskies can get out of that with a .500 record, the second half of the slate is very manageable and you would have to think that they would learn a few things from playing the best. The defense is going to be the key and you should watch the secondary because that is going to come in handy in the pass-happy Pac-12. The Huskies aren’t going to beat out Oregon in the North, but they could surprise some folks and they could be good for covering an extra spread in your online sports book.