Stanford at Washington prediction, pick, game line: A battle for the Pac-12 North

The first of three top-10 matchups this weekend will be Friday night in Seattle when No. 7 Stanford goes on the road to Husky Stadium to take on No. 10 Washington.

With Oregon struggling to start the season, this game could very well determine the fate of the Pac-12 North division, and at the very least will create a clear favorite to go to the conference title game. Both teams won in less than spectacular fashion a week ago on the road against Pac-12 South opponents, with Stanford coming back late to beat UCLA and Washington needing overtime to get past Arizona.

Both teams being ranked in the top 10 means that more than just division supremacy is on the line. The winner of the game also get past a big hurdle to keeping College Football Playoff hopes alive. Here are the storylines to watch and a game pick for this clash of Pac-12 North titans on Friday.

Stanford storyline: Stanford's defense has been fantastic to this point of the season, but this game it's about the offense stepping up and putting points on the board to help out that side of the ball.

The Cardinal are allowing only 12 points per game on defense (good for eighth nationally) and that has covered up a sluggish start to the season from the offense (averaging only 25 points per game). Now the Cardinal face a stiff test in Washington (averaging 45.8 points per game) and that task only gets tougher now that Stanford is without its top two cornerbacks.

The Huskies aren't a high volume passing attack, but they have been incredibly efficient (completing 71.4 percent of passes) and are second in the nation with 17 passing touchdowns. With depth a concern in the secondary for this game, it stands to reason to expect the Huskies to score and The Cardinal will need to match them.

Stanford's passing attack is 107th in the country, as the Cardinal have yet to ask quarterback Ryan Burns to do too much. Because of the lack of passing threat, teams are loading up to stop star running back Christian McCaffrey, who is still averaging 145 yards per game on the ground. But as a team, Stanford only has four rushing touchdowns. The Cardinal offense must open things up against Washington this week and look more dynamic if they're going to get a road win.

Washington storyline: This game is all about the Huskies proving they are deserving of the hype and praise they have received to this point of the season. Arizona gave them quite a scare last week in a game that could very well just have been a look-ahead situation. However, we don't have much to go by as far as the Huskies playing quality competition.

Arizona can be frisky, but hasn't been good this year and Washington's other games have been against Rutgers, Idaho and Portland State. Now they play the big boys and we're going to see if this offense can continue the torrid pace its gotten off to in the first four games.

Stanford's defense is no joke, but the Cardinal will be without their top corners, which may create openings for Jake Browning and the Huskies' super efficient passing game. A win in this spot legitimizes the hype around Washington, but as of now, we can't know for sure exactly how good this team is.

Game Pick: Stanford +2.5. This simply comes down to me taking the points with the team I think is just a little bit better. I like Washington, but coming into the year, I felt they were just a step behind Stanford. Maybe the Arizona game was a look-ahead spot, but that wasn't an especially inspiring effort from the Huskies. I have my concerns about Stanford. The passing game, being without top corners and having to go on the road. That said, I trust Christian McCaffrey and this defense to get the job done on the road in this spot.