Nothing is going to be the same for Washington in 2024, whether you’re talking about their roster, coaching staff, or conference. That could lead to far different results for the Huskies in 2024, especially compared to what they just experienced in 2023.
Greg McElroy assessed Washington’s schedule for this fall in a recent episode of ‘Always College Football’. While he has concerns about the turnover on the team from this offseason, he thinks they at least get off to a decent start, including in a rivalry matchup that they’ll renew outside of realignment.
“The schedule is manageable, at least early, for the Washington Huskies,” McElroy said. “Weber State in week one, Eastern Michigan in week two.”
“Washington State – that’s The Apple Cup. That’ll be in week three. Very interesting game, of course. You know Washington State is going to have that one circled,” said McElroy. “You know that one will mean an awful lot to Washington State but I don’t think, at the moment, that Washington State has quite the horses that they did a year ago or even two years ago.”
From there, though, the new conference schedule will offer a decent challenge within the Big Ten. It’ll be one after another for the Huskies in a slate that McElroy sees as more up in the air.
“Northwestern is at home – that’s a game that should be won. Then you go on the road to Rutgers – also a very, I think, tricky roadtrip but one that I would just think is a bit of a tossup. I would lean just ever so slightly in favor of Washington in that one but that will be a difficult game,” said McElroy. “Michigan then comes to you. You’re at Iowa, you’re at Indiana on October 26th. ‘SC comes to you, you’re at Penn State, UCLA is at home, and then you’re on the road at Oregon in the final week of the regular season.”
“You go through the list? I think the Rutgers game is losable, for sure. Michigan? We already know what that game looked like just a few months ago. We know that that’s going to be a challenging one for the Washington Huskies. At Iowa – two very different programs. We’re comparing them right now as two very different programs. This game is on the road at Iowa so that is obviously a losable game,” McElroy said. “I think at Indiana is one that they should win. USC at home? That’ll be a tossup, for sure. At Penn State? That’ll be a very difficult game, one that I’d lean in favor of Penn State, at least at the moment. UCLA is at home – I think they’ll handle that one. Then they’re at Oregon – I would lean in favor of Oregon, at least at the moment.”
By that math, McElroy has as many as six potential losses on the board for Washington this year. That possibly finish at .500 would be quite the turnaround and a lot for them to reason with after posting a historically great season for their program last year.
“I have six games right now that I think are legitimately losable for the Washington Huskies,” said McElroy. “That’s a lot, especially considering they went 14-1 last season.”
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