The 2017 Apple Cup predictions are in from all the college football experts. The winner of the Washington State vs. Washington game will determine the Pac-12 North champion and decide which school gets to advance to the Pac-12 Championship Game. It’s a big deal for both schools, even though there is more on the line for WSU at this point. The 2017 Apple Cup kicks off at 5 p.m. PT and currently, the Washington Huskies are considered the odds-on favorite to win the big game.
The latest Apple Cup odds favor UW by 10-and-a-half points over WSU. That’s a big spread for two teams with identical 9-2 records, but the advantage goes to the host Huskies. This might make the Apple Cup predictions by a panel of seven college football experts at CBS Sports a bit surprising. According to the report , all seven feel that not only will the Washington State Cougars cover the spread, they believe that WSU is going to beat UW. That’s right, the seven experts believe that WSU will win the 2017 Apple Cup by at least 10 points.
Winning the rivalry game this year is a big deal for WSU, as they would win the Pac-12 North and move on to play USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game. The Washington Huskies have already been eliminated from that potential, though, as even a win over WSU will not be enough to beat the Stanford Cardinal. Stanford owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Huskies, limiting UW to a spoiler-role, with the potential to still move to 10-2 and receive a good postseason bowl invite from one of the committees.
#GoCougs #BusinessTrip #AppleCup pic.twitter.com/ycHMI66wiI
— WSU Cougar Football (@wsucougfb) November 24, 2017
A report by ESPN predicts a slightly different Apple Cup outcome. While there are no game predictions from the Pac-12 writers this week, the ESPN Matchup Predictor has weighed in, giving the Washington Huskies an 84.4 percent chance of winning the big game. The over/under for the November 25 game has been placed at 48 total points and No. 17 UW is favored to pull off the “upset” of No. 13 WSU in front of their home fans. The game is on FOX , so this could be why little attention is being given to the Pac-12 game at ESPN .
A report by FOX Sports gives the Apple Cup pick from the site staff and they are predicting that the Washington State Cougars pull off a 28-24 win. They do note that the Washington Huskies have won seven of the last eight Apple Cup meetings, but feel that this is the year that WSU coach Mike Leach and quarterback Luke Falk take the trophy back to Pullman.
Six experts at Sports Illustrated also weighed in with their 2017 Apple Cup predictions. The report for Week 13 games has four of their six college football experts siding with the Washington Huskies. Analyst Andy Staples states that Washington’s defensive personnel have been built to slow down offenses like the one that Washington State will have on the field Saturday.
Those are the major 2017 Apple Cup picks, with a lot on the line for both schools on Saturday night. If the Washington State Cougars win the big game, they advance to play USC. If the Washington Huskies win the rivalry contest, then it will be the Stanford Cardinal that advances to the title game. It looks like there could be a lot of rain in the Apple Cup weather report, leading to a soggy field and a heavy reliance on the running game at times. FOX presents the live television coverage at 5 p.m. PT and this may be the biggest game between WSU and UW in years.
[Featured Image by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images]
