[Goose]

We only care if you think we're a playoff quality team but will drop 2 games. If we drop only 1 game and win the Pac-12 then it's very likely that we're in, and UW having losses helps that.

How? One might say that if we win the North, it doesn't matter what Washington's record is. That I could sort of go along with. But, otherwise, how does Washington losing to Utah help us? I guess it could if 1) Strength of schedule somehow comes into play, and 2)Utah is undefeated except for a loss to Stanford. Even then, there is a national perception that Utah isn't really a very good team. OTOH, Washington is perceived by the world as the "class" of the PAC-12, or at least they were before Auburn beat them. Undermining that perception with other losses doesn't help us in any way I can envision.

Besides, if Utah surprises we play them too.

In general, given the obscenely large number of ways the season can play out, I think people are overconfident about which non-Stanford matchups matter. I also think people overrate the importance of perceptions about SOS, the path to the playoff so far has been "have at most one loss, win your conference, or be Alabama". The outcome of the Utah-UW game that helps us do that is for UW to lose.

Again, how? If UW beats us and loses to Utah, they still win the North. They won't be in the final group, because they have two losses. But that helps us not at all. If UW beats us, we are out, period, unless just possibly UW loses two games to schools in the North. Losing to Utah helps us only in some complex tiebreaker, as I see it.

[Goose]

We only care if you think we're a playoff quality team but will drop 2 games. If we drop only 1 game and win the Pac-12 then it's very likely that we're in, and UW having losses helps that.

How? One might say that if we win the North, it doesn't matter what Washington's record is. That I could sort of go along with. But, otherwise, how does Washington losing to Utah help us? I guess it could if 1) Strength of schedule somehow comes into play, and 2)Utah is undefeated except for a loss to Stanford. Even then, there is a national perception that Utah isn't really a very good team. OTOH, Washington is perceived by the world as the "class" of the PAC-12, or at least they were before Auburn beat them. Undermining that perception with other losses doesn't help us in any way I can envision.

Besides, if Utah surprises we play them too.

In general, given the obscenely large number of ways the season can play out, I think people are overconfident about which non-Stanford matchups matter. I also think people overrate the importance of perceptions about SOS, the path to the playoff so far has been "have at most one loss, win your conference, or be Alabama". The outcome of the Utah-UW game that helps us do that is for UW to lose.

Again, how? If UW beats us and loses to Utah, they still win the North. They won't be in the final group, because they have two losses. But that helps us not at all. If UW beats us, we are out, period, unless just possibly UW loses two games to schools in the North. Losing to Utah helps us only in some complex tiebreaker, as I see it.