Ok, here's the thing about following the team that most people agree is the best in the conference: you want to be modest about it.
So earlier I was modest and graciously gave 7-7 Oregon the benefit of the doubt by saying that a key statistical "battleground" would be turnovers, which Oregon has done a fine job of forcing this season.
SBN's Addicted to Quack avoided all that nonsense and just kept it real.
MBB Preview: Oregon at Washington - Addicted To Quack
PRAY: Seriously. I could say that we have to shoot the ball at a 45% clip, but are we even capable of that? To make up for not doing that, we have to get significantly more shots than Washington, meaning we must cause a ton of turnovers in the press AND win the rebounding battle decisively. And Washington is great at both rebounding and not turning the ball over. Even if our defense is great, and theirs is poor, they are still a better offensive team than we are. The fact of the matter is that if we win this game, its much more likely to be about how poorly Washington played. We simply don't have the talent to take a game from them otherwise.
Ok fine - I'll quit playing with you. Washington has a pretty good chance of winning this one handily. However, given Abdul Gaddy's injury, it will be a strong test for their guard rotation in terms of how they withstand the pressure.
And there's a reason they play the games anyway, right?