Here's How Nation's 13th Hardest Schedule Will Pan Out for UW (2024)

So they took a freshly painted gold helmet, a well-worn purple jersey, a soaking wet Husky Stadium seat cushion, a current depth chart and old game footage, put it all in a blender and out came the University of Washington football team holding down the nation's 13th most difficult schedule for the coming season, courtesy of ESPN.

Or something like that.

At first glance, it appears that Jedd Fisch's Huskies will have an easy time of it early on -- having never lost to four of their first five opponents -- and then face a progressively harder stretch of games to finish, including ultra challenging road outings at Penn State and at Oregon.

So a dozen weeks before everything gets rolling with a new coach, new quarterback and just about everything changing over, let's examine the Huskies' 12 opponents and how those matchups might turn out.

We'll get this out of the way fairly quickly: the UW should be 5-0 going into the Oct. 5 title-game rematch with Michigan, only this time facing the Wolverines in Husky Stadium. The following is how the college football's 13th toughest schedule shakes out:

1. Aug. 31, Weber State (2023: 6-5 overall, 4-4 Big Sky) -- If the 2021 Montana game taught the UW anything, you never lose to a Big Sky team at home to open the season. It will cost you your coaching job, send the season into a stupor and make you temporarily the laughing stock of college football. Last season, the Wildcats split games with Central Washington and Eastern Washington. They shouldn't come any closer than three touchdowns in this first-time meeting to THE University of Washington. (UW, 1-0).

2. Sept. 7, Eastern Michigan (6-7, 4-4 in MAC) -- Just seven years ago, Kalen DeBoer used four seasons as the offensive coordinator at this school as a coaching-stepping stone to take a job at Fresno State and really launch his career. Fisch should take advantage of the Eagles in promoting his own interests in another first-time meeting. The Huskies are 4-0 against the MAC, scoring no fewer than 45 points in any of those games. (UW, 2-0).

3. Sept. 14, Washington State (5-7, 2-7 Pac12) -- if any game needed preserving in the aftermath of the Pac-12 break-up, it was the Apple Cup. This one, however, will be held at Lumen Field rather than what would have been the rotational trip to Pullman, which might not happen anymore. The Cougars lost seven of their final eight games in 2023, though they took the Huskies to the final play. WSU may want to take a break after this rivalry game. (UW, 3-0).

4. Sept. 21, Northwestern (8-5, 5-4 Big Ten) -- This contest will mark the Huskies' first Big Ten Conference matchup as a new member, coming against a Wildcats team on fairly solid footing. Northwestern closed out the 2023 season with a 14-7 win over Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl in Allegiant Stadium, three weeks after the UW captured the Pac-12 championship game there. These teams have played three times, with the Huskies victorious on each occasion and collectively outscoring Northwestern 105-7. (UW, 4-0).

5. Sept. 27, at Rutgers (7-6, 3-6 Big Ten) -- The Huskies take to the road for the first time in Big Ten play and head to New Jersey for a Friday night game. When Chris Petersen was coach, they swept a home-and-home series with the Scarlet Knights, 48-13 in Seattle and 30-14 in Picastaway, the only games played by these two schools. This will be a big test of endurance, with the Huskies going coast to coast, yet picking up an extra day in preparing for Michigan. (UW, 5-0).

6. Oct. 5, Michigan (15-0, 9-0 Big Ten) -- The rematch at Husky Stadium won't look anything like the national championship game. Both teams have new coaches. The Wolverines return eight of 22 starters, the Huskies just two. Michigan leads the overall series 5-9, splitting four games in Seattle, though losing on its last visit 23-18 in 2001. Both teams will show up with all new offensive lines. We're thinking this area will be a real problem for the Huskies in a game like this, probably shown nationally on NBC, as they suffer their first loss. (UW, 5-1)

7. Oct. 12, at Iowa (10-4, 7-2 Big Ten) -- It's not really a great bit of scheduling to play in Iowa City the week after taking on Michigan anywhere. The Huskies have been here just once before, losing 28-18 in 1964 -- yes, 60 years ago. These teams have squared off six times, and split the games, with three of them coming in bowls, two at the Rose Bowl. The Huskies and the Hawkeyes haven't played since 1995, when Iowa had a starting linebacker named William Inge, later to become a UW co-defensive coordinator, and the Hawkeyes won 38-18 at the Sun Bowl. This game could have a similar outcome. (UW, 5-2).

8. Oct. 26, at Indiana (3-9, 1-8 Big Ten) -- After a bye week, the UW takes on a team on the road going through a Big Ten rebuild with a new coach. Nickelback Jordan Shaw, a former Hoosier turned Husky, will want to be a starter for this one. The players may want to visit the Michael Penix Jr. Museum while on campus ... LOL. The Huskies are 1-2 against Indiana, losing their only visit to Bloomington 14-7 in 1978. It won't happen again. (UW, 6-2).

9. Nov. 2, USC (8-5, 5-4 Pac-12) -- The Trojans will enter the season all renewed and ready to rumble, only to come north to play in ridiculous climate change conditions and have Jen Cohen's return to Montlake spoiled, even with Trojans quarterback Miller Moss aptly named for the visit. While USC holds a commanding 31-52-1 series advantage, these teams have gone 6-6-1 in their most recent Husky Stadium meetings. Upset, Huskies. (UW, 7-2).

10. Nov. 9, at Penn State (10-3, 7-2 Big Ten) -- Games like this, visiting a college behemoth for the first time, have never gone well for the Huskies. See Notre Dame (46-0 in 1948), Michigan (50-0 in 1953) Alabama (52-0 in 1975) and LSU (40-14 in 1983). Did we fail to mention that Beaver Stadium, at 106,572, has the second-largest capacity of any football stadium in the country, just 29 seats fewer than Michigan Stadium? The Huskies are 0-3 against Penn State, but have never visited this Nittany Lions den. It probably won't be fond memory. (UW, 7-3).

11. Nov. 15, UCLA (8-5, 4-5 Pac-12) -- The Bruins represent the only Pac-12 team that Kalen DeBoer couldn't beat in his two seasons in Montlake. Fisch, however, not only toppled UCLA 27-10 and 34-28 for Arizona the past two years, he was the Bruins offensive coordinator in 2017. And he not only coached at UCLA, he was the interim head coach when Jim Mora, the former Husky linebacker and Seahawks coach, was fired that season. In another Friday night game, the Huskies take advantage of the Bruins' rebuild. (UW, 8-3).

12. Nov. 23, at Oregon (12-2, 8-1 Pac-12) -- Ducks fans are so full of themselves, they're calling this the greatest team in school history. With the greatest recruiting class coming in. With the greatest football facilities ever assembled. In the greatest city in America. Naturally, karma rose up its ugly head after they said similar stuff in 2022 and 2023, and they proceeded to go 0-for-3 against Washington. Yet this time, it's different. The Huskies are in a rebuild, rather than a reload, and privately know they have to lose this one -- because if their coach somehow pulled off an Autzen Stadium upset like DeBoer before him, he'd be gone to the NFL or SEC quicker than you could say Jedd Fisch, and the program would have to start from scratch once more. (UW, 8-4).

Feel free to argue, debate or scoff at any of these preseason findings. Remember, moderate success is necessary to keep the Husky coaching staff on board and things in Montlake uncomplicated. You saw what happen when DeBoer won big.

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