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Washington enters the College Football Playoff with the longest odds to win the title at 15-1, but the Pac-12 champions have reason to believe they can emerge as the national champions in Tampa.

The biggest reason for the Huskies long odds to win the title is that they are massive underdogs (+14/+425 money line) against Alabama in their Peach Bowl semifinal. Very few expect Washington to get past the Crimson Tide, and being guaranteed to go up against Alabama significantly hurts their odds compared to Ohio State and Clemson, which have better odds of at least making it to Tampa.

For the Washington fan looking for a reason to be optimistic or for anyone trying to seek out big time value from the 15-1 Huskies, I'm here to offer three reasons why Washington can beat Alabama in Atlanta and then open 2017 by hoisting the national championship trophy.

1. Balance: There are few teams in the nation with the balance on both sides of the ball that Washington possesses. The Huskies are 36th in rushing offense, 31st in passing offense, fourth in scoring offense, 21st in passing defense, 20th in rushing defense and seventh in scoring defense. No other team in the playoff can boast that kind of balance on both sides of the ball, not even Alabama, which ranks 70th in passing offense.

The Huskies' balance makes them difficult to game plan for because there is not a clear weakness to attack on either side of the ball, and it gives them the ability to adapt to what their opponent is doing. They have shown the ability to win games by leaning on Jake Browning and the passing game, but also can win by giving opponents a heavy dose of Myles Gaskin and the run. The defense can stop the run and the pass equally effectively, and Washington has the athletes on both sides of the ball to compete with any of these three blue-blood programs.

2. Big time passing attack: I think Washington poses the second biggest threat to Alabama in this playoff to Deshaun Watson and Clemson -- Ohio State's heavy reliance on the running game and short, side-to-side passing game is the kind of offense the Tide tend to smother. The reason why is Browning, John Ross and their high-powered vertical passing attack.

The Huskies will be the best passing offense the Tide have faced since Ole Miss, which came closest to beating Alabama in a 48-43 shootout. The margin for error for Browning will be small, but he is a far superior quarterback to, say, Florida's Austin Appleby, who managed to turn an open touchdown opportunity into a pick-six against Alabama by missing his receiver on a post by throwing it 3 yards short.

Browning makes that throw to a burner like Ross and, instead of six points for Alabama, it's a big play and possibly six points for the Huskies. These kinds of opportunities, while few and far between, exist against the Tide, you just have to capitalize every time presented with them -- and certainly not make a big mistake of your own. Alabama challenges its defensive backs to cover down the field in one-on-one coverage and there are chances to hit big plays over the top.

The problem every team Alabama faced to this point has had is that, aside from Chad Kelly at Ole Miss, they have not had a quarterback able to hit those receivers when they have a step or two on a defender -- the depth at the quarterback position in the SEC is less than stellar. Browning, however, has that kind of arm talent and it will be a matter of him executing in those spots when Ross or Dante Pettis or whoever else have a step over the top.

3. Turnover margin: Washington led the nation in turnovers forced (33) and turnover margin (+21) this season. That's a great recipe for success, especially against Alabama and Clemson, which have struggled with turning the ball over. Ohio State had the second fewest turnovers in the nation this season with nine.

Alabama turned the ball over 19 time, with most of those coming from quarterback Jalen Hurts, who has shown a propensity for putting the ball on the turf. Alabama turned the ball over two or more times in seven games this season, so Washington will have opportunities there. Should the Huskies get past Alabama and earn a date with the Tigers in Tampa, they will have even more opportunities as Clemson had 24 turnovers this season (103rd in the country).

Washington's secondary is as good as there is at creating interceptions with 19 on the season by 12 different players -- nearly every player in the main secondary rotation has an interception this season. The Huskies also hit hard in the run game and finished the season fifth in the nation in fumbles recovered with 14. With such an explosive offense, the Huskies are well equipped to turn those turnovers into points and that can make all the difference in a Playoff game.