Apple Cup Odds 2015: Washington Huskies Favored To Beat Washington State Cougars
Apple Cup odds favor the Washington Huskies to beat the Washington State Cougars easily. The latest Apple Cup odds now state that the Huskies are seven-point favorites to win the game on Friday, November 26. Despite WSU coming into this game with the superior 8-3 record, the 5-6 Huskies are picked to win at home. That’s not what fans of the Cougars wanted to see as the Apple Cup draws closer.
The yearly battle between the Washington Huskies and the Washington State Cougars is for bragging rights within the state. The annual match-up is called the Apple Cup, and the fans from both schools put more importance on this game than any other on the schedule. Now, WSU has a chance to keep UW from even getting to a bowl game this season. Can the Cougars find a way to improve to 9-3 in an extremely successful year for the program?
The 2015 Apple Cup odds have fluctuated slightly from an opening line of WSU at +5.5 and an over/under of 54 points. With questions about whether WSU starting quarterback Luke Falk will get to play, the line had been pushed to a +7.5 spread. In betting terms, it means that is the margin of victory that has been predicted for the Washington Huskies. The over/under is how many points the two teams are predicted to score in the game (combined).
A computer has predicted that the final outcome of the Washington vs. Washington State game will be 36-28.4 in favor of the Huskies. This is where that spread has been generated. For college football fans that feel this could be close to the final score, the odds are pretty good that the teams will exceed the over/under line of 54 by quite a bit. WSU has averaged 34 points over 11 games this season, including 45 against both Arizona and Oregon.
Currently, Washington State holds second place in the Pac-12 North after beating third-place Oregon at Autzen Stadium. Now, the school looks to clinch that position with a victory in the 2015 Apple Cup. A victory would guarantee that the team finishes with at least the second-best record in the entire conference. WSU could possibility to be tied with Stanford for the best record if the Cardinal has a tough time against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish over the weekend.
It has been an up-and-down season for the Washington Huskies. The team beat USC 17-12 to improve to 3-2 early in the season. Several tough losses to Oregon, Stanford, and Arizona State take the shine off a 49-3 win over Arizona and a 52-7 victory over Oregon State. At 5-6 on the season, the Huskies need a win on Friday to guarantee a.500 record at 6-6. It shows how high the stakes for this game happen to be, even if it is just considered a state battle by many other Pac-12 schools.
Both schools have made headlines in the week approaching the game, possibly causing a shift in the 2015 Apple Cup odds. There are a lot of questions about WSU quarterback Luke Falk, who suffered another head injury when the Cougars beat Colorado on November 21. His official status for the Apple Cup game remains a mystery, as WSU head coach Mike Leach doesn’t talk about injuries. If Falk is unable to play, backup quarterback Peyton Bender will get the call. He has completed 17-of-33 passes for 210 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions this season.
Meanwhile, the Washington Huskies extended head coach Chris Petersen two more seasons. The former Boise State coach was already under contract through the 2018 college football season, but UW gave him two more years on the deal. He has posted a 13-12 record as the coach of the Huskies after going 92-12 in eight years with Boise State.
Game time is 12:30 p.m. PT on Friday, November 26, with Seattle playing host to the match-up. Though the 2015 Apple Cup odds may favor the Washington Huskies to win this game, no analyst is counting out the resurgent Washington State Cougars as a team that could possibly win 10 games this year.
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