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BYU will be looking to make college football history in Seattle.
The Cougars are in familiar territory as they head into tomorrow’s matchup at Washington as double-digit underdogs. The 17-point line is already the third time this season BYU has been a double-digit road underdog. So far, BYU has fared quite well in those games.
BYU opened the season as an 11-point underdog in the desert facing electric QB Khalil Tate. BYU squashed Tate’s Heisman chances in game one with the 28-23 victory. The Wildcats haven’t fared as well as many national pundits predicted in the preseason, but they are 2-2 and sit at first place in the Pac 12 South.
Two weeks later, BYU faced a massive challenge going into Camp Randall and facing the 6th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers as 23.5-point underdogs. BYU led for a majority of the game and stunned everyone (including most BYU fans) with the 24-21 point win. BYU got a bit of validation the next week as the Badgers went into Iowa and beat the Hawkeyes on the road. Wisconsin currently sits at 15 in the AP Top 25 Poll.
Tomorrow, BYU will look to pull off another huge upset for third time in the opening month. Only six teams in the past 40 years have won twice in a season as 17-point or more underdogs. The only team to win as 17-point ‘dogs twice on the road in the same season was Northwestern in 1995.
BYU is a 17.5-point underdog at Washington. In the last 40 years, just six teams have won twice in a season as a 17-point dog. And the only one to win two road games in the same season as a 17-point dog in that span was Northwestern in its Rose Bowl season of 1995.
— Chris Fallica (@chrisfallica) September 28, 2018
BYU will be looking to join Northwestern as the second team in the last 40 years to accomplish the feat, and the first team ever to do so in the first month of the season.
The general public seems to like BYU covering the 17-point spread, as 79% of bettors are backing BYU. According to The Action Network, that’s the highest percentage of bets they’ve ever recorded for an underdog of more than two touchdowns. Only 52% of the dollars are siding with BYU, however, likely indicating that the general public is backing BYU but the professionals are siding with UW.
Washington is an elite football team. The Huskies have an elite defense and one of the loudest stadiums in the country. BYU will have to be firing on all cylinders to have any chance of pulling of the upset.
Wisconsin was really good too, though. And BYU beat the Badgers in their house. Here’s to another big upset on Montlake as BYU looks to rewrite the college football record books.