With a win over the UCLA Bruins, Jedd Fisch and the Washington Huskies officially have a trip to a bowl game coming up. That’s huge from a few different angles, but arguably the biggest thing a bowl game brings to a team like Washington is 15 more practices and another game.
That, theoretically, will help Fisch and the Washington Huskies coaching staff further develop the young players on the roster and to continue to build momentum heading into the offseason.
Bowl games can certainly be important. Especially if you have a team that is hoping to empower a young, freshman quarterback to be able to succeed and thrive as a starter heading into next season. If that sounds familiar, it should. That’s the sort of situation that Washington is in right now.
So, after handing a surging UCLA Bruins team a lovely 12-point beating in Husky Stadium, where are the Huskies set to play?
Well, it’s not clear yet. And projections have the Huskies all over the place. There’s a good chance that Washington stays somewhere in the western half of the continental United States. That said, there’s some thought Washington might be making a trip into the South.
Let’s take a look:
Washington Huskies bowl projections: Where will the Huskies play in a bowl in 2024 after beating the UCLA Bruins?
If you ask the folks over at the Worldwide Leader in Sports, the Huskies will either be facing off against the Missouri Tigers in Las Vegas or meeting up with the West Virginia Mountaineers in Shreveport, Louisiana. I love Shreveport and have really enjoyed my time visiting the city. I think there’s a lot to love there, but I can’t imagine many UW fans really being thrilled about that location.
- ESPN’s Mark Schlabach: SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl vs Missouri Tigers
- ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura: Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl vs West Virginia Mountaineers
Back to Vegas for a moment, apparently there’s a chance that the Huskies could meet up with the Texas A&M Aggies there. And while that would be a solid destination for Fisch’s team, the Aggies are almost certainly hoping for something bigger than a trip to Vegas.
How about a trip over to El Paso for a Sun Bowl matchup with the Louisville Cardinals? El Paso is another city that I’m fond of and this one could be an intriguing matchup for the Huskies. It’d certainly be winnable, even if it is a little challenging. All depends on what Louisville offense would show up that day.
And then we’ve got a couple of potential Holiday Bowl matchups. Either the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets or the Pittsburgh Panthers. I’ve gotta say, I don’t necessarily love those possible matchups as much. But hey, it could be worse.
- Sports Illustrated’s Patrick Andres: Holiday Bowl vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm: Holiday Bowl vs. Pittsburgh Panthers
And that’s what we’ve got. Given where the Huskies have been projected, there are some truly intriguing matchups on the table. And at the end of the day, 15 more practices can really help this team as it heads into the offseason.