The Huskies to close the 2017 season with four of their final five games at home.
The Washington Huskies will begin defense of their Pac-12 Conference title with a championship-game rematch against Colorado in Boulder on Sept. 23, the conference announced Wednesday in releasing the Pac-12’s 2017 football schedule.
The Huskies defeated the Buffaloes 41-10 in the 2016 Pac-12 title game, UW’s first conference championship since 2000. Washington finished the regular season ranked No. 4 in The Associated Press Top 25 and is expected to open 2017 ranked in the top 10.
Including the trip to Colorado, the Huskies will be on the road for three of their first four Pac-12 games, with games also at Oregon State (Sept. 30) and Arizona State (Oct. 14).
The Huskies’ first Pac-12 home game will be against California on Oct. 7, marking the return of former UW defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox to Husky Stadium. Wilcox on Tuesday was introduced as the Bears’ new head coach.
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The Huskies’ bye is set for Oct. 21, with four of their final five games scheduled at Husky Stadium. O
For the first time since 2014, UW will play Jim Mora‘s UCLA Bruins on Oct. 28 at Husky Stadium.
Oregon, led by new coach Willie Taggart, visits Seattle on Nov. 4.
The Huskies will play their second Friday-night game of the season at Stanford on Nov. 10. (This, by the way, will mark the sixth time in the past eight years that Washington has played some combination of Stanford-Oregon in back-to-back weeks.)
Utah comes to Seattle on Nov. 18. The Apple Cup then returns to Husky Stadium — and to a Saturday date — two days after Thanksgiving.
As part of the conference’s two-year schedule rotation, the Huskies will miss USC and Arizona in 2017 and ’18. USC, coming off a thrilling Rose Bowl victory over Penn State, is expected to be the favorite in the South next season.
UW’s 2017 schedule:
Friday, Sept. 1: at Rutgers
Saturday, Sept. 9: vs. Montana
Saturday, Sept. 16: vs. Fresno State
Saturday, Sept. 23: at Colorado
Saturday, Sept. 30: at Oregon State
Saturday, Oct. 7: vs. California
Saturday, Oct. 14: at Arizona State
Saturday, Oct. 21: BYE
Saturday, Oct. 28: vs. UCLA
Saturday, Nov. 4: vs. Oregon
Friday, Nov. 10: at Stanford
Saturday, Nov. 18: vs. Utah
Saturday, Nov. 25: vs. Washington State
Friday, Dec. 1 or Saturday, Dec. 2: Pac-12 Football Championship Game (ESPN)