#9 Washington to Face #6 Ohio State in Rose Bowl

It’s been a foregone conclusion since the Huskies defeated Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday night but Washington will square off against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl. This is UW’s first appearance in Pasadena for the postseason since 1/1/2001 when they defeated a Drew Brees-led Purdue Boilermakers team 34-24.

Washington’s Pac-12 best defense will face a heavy challenge going against the high-powered Ohio State offense led by Dwayne Haskins who passed for 4,580 yards and 47 touchdowns this season. It’s also a matchup against the two current coaches with the highest career winning percentages.

The Buckeyes only lost one game on the season but were blown out at Purdue by 29 points. Ohio State also had incredibly narrow wins against Nebraska and Maryland, neither of whom qualified for a bowl game. Against their two best opponents they won both but they were very different games as they held on by a single point at Penn State but blew out top-10 Michigan by 23 points.

We’ll of course have plenty of Rose Bowl coverage for you over the next month. What are your initial thoughts on the game?