CSD Mag Teaser: Can anybody upset Washington in the Pac-12 North?

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Washington made the College Football Playoff last year, but what many people forget is that they actually only barely won their own division. Both the Huskies and their cross state rival Washington State Cougars came into the final weekend of the season with a conference record of 7-1. Now, Washington ended up blowing out Wazzu in that game, but the point is, while the Huskies were very favored to win that division, they still had some trouble. Washington comes into this year as the favorite in the Pac-12 North, the question is, who will be this years Washington State?
Now, as I covered in my Oregon preview teaser (which you can see here) I see the Ducks improving, but not by enough to contend for the Pac-12 title. I also briefly went over Washington State’s fantastic quarterback Luke Falk in this article and while Wazzu will put up points, their defense isn’t good enough to contend for the North crown in a much-improved Pac-12. That leaves the stalwarts of the North, the Stanford Cardinal.
The Cardinal kind of got forgotten last year after they started the season just 4-3, but David Shaw’s team finished the season with six wins in a row, and in my post-bowl season, end of year top 25, I had Stanford ranked as the twelveth-best team in the country to close out the year, the only other Pac-12 North team to make those rankings was Washington at #4.
Stanford’s outlook this year seems pretty foggy. The offensive line should be good, and Bryce Love did solid work as a backup for Christian McCaffery, the question is, how will he transition into becoming the main back. The defense should be as good as ever, David Shaw has built the Cardinal into defensive powerhouses, and that will continue in the 2017 season, especially with the secondary. The main question mark for Stanford is the passing game. Keller Chryst, who was injured in the Sun Bowl, won’t be back by the beginning of the season, so it will be up to either backup Ryan Burns or freshman KJ Costello to pilot the Cardinal for at least the beginning of the campaign. If Stanford can figure out it’s receiving core, and the quarterback play is solid, Stanford might not just be able to contend for the Pac-12 North crown, they may be the favorites.