4th and Inches Podcast: Season-Opening Pac-12 Predictions
With opening weekend for college football season upon us, the Pac-12 Conference has games that could improve its reputation or add to the narrative that the schools out west belong at the bottom of the Power Five rankings.
The Washington Huskies do not have a marquee opening match-up but instead square off against overmatched Montana. Although FCS teams have beaten Pac-12 programs in recent memory, this will not be one of them.
The game with the most to gain for the conference is the UCLA Bruins hosting the LSU Tigers, who had to flee Hurricane Ida to get ready to play. The Tigers, ranked 16th in the nation, will be a tough test for the Bruins.
The conference also will send some of its mid-tier programs to play other mid-tier programs from other conferences. Stanford will travel to face Kansas State in Texas and Oregon State will play at Purdue.
While neither of these games will make or break the reputation of the conference, winning them remains important in promoting the Pac-12 as a whole.
Washington will work to get valuable game reps for a team on the verge of contending for the conference championship with USC and Oregon and for a New Year's Day bowl game. The Huskies played just four games in 2020, tied for the low among FBS schools during the pandemic.
Jake Grant and Trevor Mueller of Husky discuss each Pac-12 match-up and how these games will turn out. Check out the podcast above and below.
