After last week’s upset of then No. 7 Oregon State, the Washington Huskies take their show on the road to play California this week. You would think that getting the primetime showcase on a Friday night when you’re the only game in town would be a great way to build upon that momentum. However, it likely won’t be the case for Washington this week.

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First off, Washington opened as four-point underdogs for this contest, despite having two straight up wins over top-10 teams this season – they beat Stanford back in late September. But they had caught the Cardinal in a classic letdown spot themselves, the first game following their huge upset over USC. Now it is the Huskies who find themselves in that same letdown spot.

Secondly, like their co-tenants this season, the Seattle Seahawks, Washington has enjoyed great success in the Seahawks stadium and all the noise there has helped propel them to those two upsets. The Stanford and Oregon State games were both played at CenturyLink Field and Washington used that “home” field to their advantage. They have played three Pac-10 rivals there this season and gone 3-0 ATS in those games (USC was the third). Now, they are out on the road where they have been far from good (0-3 SU and ATS) although their competition was the cream of the crop in those contests – Oregon, Arizona and LSU. Still, this is far from the same team when they are away from home and that will show up in this game.

Finally, we can’t forget about the revenge factor. Cal has not beaten Washington since 2008 and for those seniors, capping off their careers with a win over these guys would be a crowning achievement. Last year, Washington RB Chris Polk snapped off a 70-yard run early in the 4th to take an 8-point lead that the Huskies would never relinquish. At 3-6 SU and their only remaining games vs. both Oregon schools, California likely won’t be Bowl eligible this season. They understand that this may be the last winnable game on the docket this year and with the nation watching, they will bring their best effort.

Lay the points with California.