2016 Pac-12 North standings: If UW beats ASU, the Apple Cup is the division title game

Either No. 6 Washington or No. 22 Washington State will win the Pac-12 North. The spontaneous fading of Oregon and Stanford has left the Huskies and Cougars as the clear-cut top teams in the division, and one of them is about to punch a title game ticket. It just might not be this weekend.

Wazzu leads the division at 7-0, and the Huskies are just behind at 6-1. Stanford is next, but the Cardinal have three league losses and are mathematically eliminated. This will come down to the Washington teams, for sure.

1. WSU beats No. 10 Colorado in Boulder (3:30 p.m. ET, Fox) on Saturday, and Washington loses at home against Arizona State (7:30 p.m. ET, Fox).

2. WSU wins the Apple Cup against Washington on Nov. 25 (3:30 p.m. ET, Fox).

1. The Huskies win out, thus overtaking WSU outright or via head-to-head tiebreaker.

Speaking for every college football fan who’s not a Wazzu fan, it’d be good if Washington could hang on for another week. An Apple Cup that decides the division would be great fun, and it’d give Black Friday a marquee game to bridge the gap between Thanksgiving and the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Washington-WSU looks like a good matchup this year. S&P+ currently gives the Huskies a 74 percent chance to win it, but Wazzu could have more than a few tricks up its sleeve. The Cougars are scoring 50 points per game at home (up from 36 on the road) and allowing 22 (down from 28). Luke Falk’s QB rating is slightly lower at home, but the running game is better in Pullman. Nobody has beaten WSU at home since, uh, FCS Eastern Washington in Week 1.

Washington is great on offense and defense, but the Huskies proved last week against USC that they’re vulnerable and banged-up.

All I’m saying: The Apple Cup will be good. If it means something, it will be great.