Inside The Huskies

Media Picks Pac-12 Division Champs; See Where Huskies Fit In

The University of Washington football team needs a proven starting quarterback to draw more favorable opinion from outsiders.
Dan Raley|
Media Picks Pac-12 Division Champs; See Where Huskies Fit In
Media Picks Pac-12 Division Champs; See Where Huskies Fit In

The University of Washington football team enters the better-late-than-never season picked to finish third in the North Division, which, if true, means the Huskies are middle of the pack.

In a poll compiled from conference media votes, the UW trails Oregon and California in the division ranking by 61 and 15 points -- teams it will begin and end with.

The Ducks typically are rated high in the conference and nationally because of the talent base it possesses. Yet Mario Cristobal's current roster has lost several players to opt-outs in the past month, needs a new quarterback to step forward and might not be nearly as good as people think.

Cal might have the best quarterback in the conference in Chase Garbers, whose little brother Ethan is competing for the starting QB job at Washington. Yet the Bears, coached by former Husky assistant coach Justin Wilcox, lost significant firepower on defense.

 The Huskies were pushing one of its better defensive units until it lost outside linebacker Joe Tryon and defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike to opt-outs, but may hold up well with replacements. Where the UW gets graded down is with all of its uncertainty at quarterback, where it has no players with significant Pac-12 experience.

The South Division features USC and ASU running 1-2, teams that open the season against each other. 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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