This is an 8* on WASHINGTON

The only Saturday bowl game with any sort of "national appeal" goes down in Las Vegas with Washington taking on #19 Boise State. There is a tremendous storyline for this game as Chris Petersen, who built the Boise State program to national prominance, will be coaching his final game at Washington. While Boise is the ranked team, we agree with the oddsmakers that Washington is better. Yes, it was a disappointing 7-5 season for Petersen in Seattle. But four of those five losses came by six points or less and two of them were blown leads against Oregon and Utah. As a favorite, the Huskies are 7-3 straight up and against the spread. Boise State has the better record (12-1) but that was against a much weaker schedule than what Washington faced. The Mountain West was pretty down this year. The Broncos may be a little disappointed from getting left out of a "New Year's Six" bowl. We also question how much they'll want to beat their former coach in his final game! Washington has lost its last three bowls, so their motivation will be through the roof in Petersen's final game. The defensive numbers of these two teams are pretty similar, but remember Washington faced a much tougher slate of offenses. Play on WASHINGTON

AAA