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Washington favored to beat Washington State by 10 points in 2017 Apple Cup

Washington players heft the Apple Cup trophy after beating Washington State in an NCAA college football game Friday, Nov. 27, 2015, in Seattle. Washington won the annual Apple Cup, 45-10. The Apple Cup game will return to Husky Stadium this Saturday. (Elaine Thompson / AP)
By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584

PULLMAN – Early Vegas odds not only project Washington to beat Washington State in the Apple Cup, but they indicate the Huskies will win comfortably.

The Huskies opened as 10-point favorites and the spread was down to 9.5 by Sunday night. The 110th Apple Cup is scheduled for 5:30 p.m Saturday at Husky Stadium in Seattle. Fox 28 will carry the live broadcast.

The point spread might seem curious to some: No. 14 WSU enters the game with a higher national rank than No. 15 UW. The Cougars have three wins over teams ranked inside the Associated Press Top 25 (No. 11 USC, No. 20 Stanford and No. 25 Boise State) whereas the Huskies have none. The cross-state rivals enter the game with identical records, though WSU is coming off a bye week and in theory should be better-rested than UW.

But the oddsmakers probably also considered the fact that the Cougars have not won an Apple Cup since 2012 and it’s been a decade since they knocked the Huskies off in Seattle. UW won each of the last four Apple Cups by multiple possessions and the last three especially weren’t close. The Huskies won 31-13 in 2014, 45-10 in 2015 and 45-17 last season.

The Seattle Times notes the Huskies have been favored in each of the last 11 Apple Cups. The Times also reported that UW has sold out Husky Stadium, which seats 70,138.