Stanford at Washington Expert Pick & Betting Spread

There aren’t usually many great college football games on Friday nights during the regular season, but that’s not the case this week as it’s the Pac-12 Game of the Year when No. 7 Stanford visits No. 10 Washington. The winner here would be the heavy favorite on college football odds to take the Pac-12 North Division. Washington hasn’t won that division yet in school history.

Here’s a Look at the Stanford at Washington Expert Pick, Betting Spread & TV Info

When: Friday, Sept. 30, 9 PM ET
Where: Husky Stadium, Washington
TV: ESPN
Opening NCAA Football Lines: Washington -3 (44)

Why Bet on Stanford?

The Cardinal have won the North Division three of the past four years. They completed the season sweep of the Pac-12’s Los Angeles schools with a 22-13 win at UCLA last week. After failing to find the end zone in the first three quarters, Stanford struck for two touchdowns in the last 24 seconds. Trailing 13-9 with 2:05 left and no timeouts, senior quarterback Ryan Burns drove Stanford from its 30-yard line to the UCLA 8. With 31 seconds remaining, he lobbed a perfectly thrown pass in the front-left side of the end zone to 6-foot- 3 sophomore JJ Arcega-Whiteside, who outjumped a Bruin defender and kept one foot in bounds for the game-winner with 20 seconds to play.

UCLA had a last chance, but linebacker Joey Alfieri sacked quarterback Josh Rosen and forced a fumble, and defensive lineman Solomon Thomas returned it 42 yards for his second career touchdown to cap the win. Heisman candidate Christian McCaffrey finished with 138 yards on 26 carries, but his longest run was 13. Ryan Burns completed 13 of 25 passes for 137 yards. It was Stanford's ninth straight win over UCLA.

Thomas was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week. He anchored a Stanford defense that held UCLA to just those 13 points, 77 rushing yards and 2.3 yards per carry. Thomas had three tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack on Saturday plus that fumble return.

The Cardinal have won 15 of their past 16 games and matched a school-record seven straight Pac-12 regular-season road games (2010-11). No Stanford team ever has won eight straight conference regular- season road games. Stanford also won six straight conference regular-season road games from 1926-28, 1933-35 and 1974-75.

Why Bet on Washington?

Stanford has won seven of its past eight meetings with Washington, and with a win on Friday, Stanford will hold the upper hand in the series (tied at 41-41- 4). Stanford only once defeated Washington from 1983-2003.

The Huskies (35-28) won 35-28 in OT at Arizona last week. Jake Browning hit Dante Pettis on a 4-yard touchdown in overtime, and Lavon Coleman ran for 181 yards. Washington had the ball first in overtime and Pettis made a tough grab in traffic. Washington’s defense then forced a turnover on downs.

Washington had its UW-record streak of six straight games scoring 40 points broken. The Huskies’ current seven-game winning streak is tied with Stanford for longest in the Pac-12 and fourth-longest in the nation. UW has an FBS-leading (tied) 13 takeaways and just four turnovers this season. The Washington offense has committed one turnover in each game, but none have led to any points and three resulted in a turnover back to the UW on the ensuing drive.

Washington has played just one game at Husky Stadium on a non-holiday weekday in the post-World War II era: Thu., Nov. 18, 2010, vs. UCLA (a 24-7 Husky win in front of 62,347 fans).

Only three times before has Husky Stadium hosted a matchup of two Top-10 teams (AP rankings). The UW is 1-1- 1 in those three games. Sept. 20, 1997, No. 7 Nebraska beat No. 2 Washington, 27-14. On Nov. 6, 1982, a No. 10 Husky team beat No. 9 UCLA, 10-7.

My Expert Pick

Under is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings in Washington.
Home team is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 meetings.
Under is 9-3 in the last 12 meetings.

Take Stanford and the under on NCAA football lines.