Washington Huskies will take on Baylor in Alamo Bowl

By Kshell

The Washington Huskies(7-5,5-4) under third year head coach Steve Sarkisian has accepted an invitation to play in the Alamo Bowl against the #15 Baylor Bears(9-3,6-3). The Bears open up as seven point favorites over the Huskies as they'll be only three hours away from this game which takes place in San Antonio, Texas. For the Huskies who were 0-12 just three years ago they will be going to their second straight bowl game for the first time since going eight straight years from 1995-2002. The Huskies are making progress under Sarkisian improving their bowl status while improving their win total from a year ago. The Huskies like last year will be looking to win the bowl game which would give them their first back to back bowl win seasons since winning the Rose Bowl in the 1990 and 1991 seasons.

The Huskies take on a Baylor team for the first time since 1965. The Baylor Bears lead the all-time series 3-1 but like I said they haven't played in over 40 years. The Bears are led by Robert Griffin III who could very well win the Heisman Trophy this weekend. Later in the month as the game draws closer I'll break down the numbers as both the Huskies and Bears features strong offenses. Both teams also feature weak defenses who at times can be lit up like a Christmas Tree. The game will be played on a Thursday on December 29th at 6 p.m. on ESPN which should on paper be one of the better bowl games far as excitement goes. The Bears aren't a football powerhouse by any means either so like the Huskies they'll be excited to play in such a high profile bowl game as they hope to send Griffin III off in style.

In conclusion, rival fan bases can talk all they want about how the Huskies will be killed which is cute and pathetic at the same time. I heard the same thing last year about Nebraska and the Huskies won that game 19-7. What playing in a bowl game also does is develope your younger guys say a Keith Price last year from those extra 15 practices. If you go to a bowl game every year your fifth year seniors heading into their senior season will have had 60 extra practices so basically an extra season worth of practices that a team who wasn't going to bowl games would have. This bowl game will also allow Sarkisian to recruit in a very important state which is the state of Texas. Sarkisian has the chance to build some relationships with some key coaches while he is down in Texas that can later on down the road serve this program well. I'm just happy that once again I'm watching the Huskies in a bowl game. Should be a great game with two very exciting teams. This game could turn into a track meet which for the average fan is what they want to see. I'm just glad come Christmas season I'll be watching my favorite team playing in a bowl game for the second straight season.