Washington Football: 5 spring 2019 storylines to follow

5. A two-peat in the PAC-12 Championship Game

Washington’s season really ramped up during the Apple Cup last season. In a clustered race for the PAC-12 North division title — with a trip to the conference championship game on the line — the Huskies took down in-state rival Washington State in a snowstorm.

This punched the Huskies’ ticket to the conference championship game where they slightly edged out Utah, 10-3, to own the PAC-12 title.

The 2018 season marked the second PAC-12 Championship victory since Peterson took over as the head coach. The other was two years prior in 2016 when Washington was selected as the No. 4 ranked team for the College Football Playoff.

Come next season, Washington could still be in the hunt for the PAC-12 title, but it may be a more arduous task than in previous seasons. For instance, a pair of quarterbacks in the same division, KJ Costello of Stanford and more surprisingly Justin Herbert of Oregon, each made the decision to return to their respective schools.

In the south division, USC seems to have assembled a resurgent squad that could have the rumblings of a multi-year threat with a cohort of young talent blossoming. In the south as well, Utah has made some noise recently, which has posed a threat to the bluebloods of the conference as well.

The PAC-12 overall had a down season last year and wasn’t a strong conference compared to others in the country. However, with many games that end in a shootout, there’s always the factor of the — and despite its losses, Washington may still end up in the mix.