Washington Football: 5 reasons the Huskies will take down Auburn Week 1

2. A playoff spot is on the line

Both of these teams will most definitely be in the running for one of the select spots among the elite in the College Football Playoff.

Washington got a taste of that in 2016 when they reached the semifinal game but Auburn has yet to be a representative of the SEC in the playoff.

Even though it is the first game of the season, the implications are immense. For each of these squads, the game offers an all-important, out-of-conference game to win — something that historically the selection committee for the playoff holds to a high standard when taking into account strength of schedule and key victories.

The playoff committee has also shown its true colors when it comes to two-loss teams in previous rulings. In the four-year span of the College Football Playoff, there have been no two-loss teams to enter the mix.

Effectively, this means whichever team comes out on the wrong end of this matchup will have a very difficult trek to even qualify for the playoff.

The precedent set by the committee suggests that either Washington or Auburn would have to then win 11 consecutive games, or 12 if the conference championship game is included in that count.

Will this be the year a two-loss team gets into the playoff? Maybe, but this game could go a long way to decide the future of the College Football Playoff landscape.