"Though Washington is still a marginal bowl team, this is a down year for the Pac 10 with the exception of Oregon, Stanford, and Arizona. Simply, the Huskies should still win more games than they lose."

Hmm. To get to a bowl, the whelps will have to go at least 5-4 in the Pac-10. Setting aside the debatable assertion that this is a down year in the conference (this attitude could be expected from the east coast media in a season where USC is ineligible, but is nothing more than a convenient rationalization here), let's look at how realistic that goal is..

1) UW only has four home games in conference: ASU, OSU, Stanford and UCLA. 2-2 is probably the best they can expect there.

2) The whelps are on the road for USC, Arizona, Oregon, Cal and Wazzu. Hard to see where they get 3 wins there, based on their nonconference performance.

3) Their "Heisman candidate" is coming off one of the worst performances by a starting QB in recent major college football history.

4) The numbers don't lie. After three weeks of FBS play, the Mistake at Montlake doesn't rank in the upper division of the Pac-10 in any statistical category except Sacks Allowed, and barely crack the top 60 in any category nationally.

"Miracle Bowl Team" is more likely.