Huskies Finally Crack Top 25 In Associated Press Poll

Finally.

It took the release of 28 Associated Press polls over two seasons before the University of Washington football team could rebuild and reach exalted status again.

On Sunday, the Huskies showed up at No. 24, getting elevated by the voters after six teams in the AP Top 25 lost over the weekend.

Down went Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Miami, Tennessee, Cincinnati and Houston.

The UW (6-2 overall, 3-2 Big Ten) hadn't been ranked since losing to Michigan 34-13 two years ago in the CFP national championship game in Houston and ending up No. 2 in the final AP poll.

THE WEEK 11 AP TOP 25 IS HERE 🚨

Which team would you rank higher? pic.twitter.com/RWC3ukkzN0
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 2, 2025

Jedd Fisch's team wasn't ranked at all during the 2024 season while finishing 6-7.

The Huskies were off this past week, dealing with a second bye on their schedule, while getting ready to face Wisconsin (2-6, 0-5) next Saturday in Madison.

Decker DeGraaf (86) celebrates a touchdown catch against Illinois with tackle Drew Azzopardi (74). | Dave Sizer photo

While the Huskies previously lost to No. 1-ranked Ohio State 24-6 and now No. 21 Michigan 24-7, they had trouble convincing people to vote for them because their strength of their overall schedule wasn't overly taxing.

In non-conference games, the UW played and beat Colorado State (2-6 overall, 1-3 Mountain West), UC Davis (6-2 overall, 4-1 Big Sky) and Washington State (4-5 overall 0-1 Pac-12).

The Huskies, currently tied for eighth place in the Big Ten standings with two other teams, count wins over Maryland (4-4, 1-4), Rutgers (4-5, 1-5) and then 23rd-ranked Illinois (6-3, 3-3).

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
1. Ohio St., 8-0, 1,633 (54 first-place votes)	Beat Penn State 38-14
2. Indiana, 9-0, 1,591 (11)	Beat Maryland 55-10
3. Texas A&M, 8-0, 1,523 (1)	Bye
4. Alabama, 7-1, 1,447	Bye
5. Georgia, 8-1, 1,364	Beat Florida 24-20
6. Oregon, 7-1, 1,293	Bye
7. Ole Miss, 8-1, 1,263	Beat South Carolina 30-14
8. BYU, 8-0, 1,207	Bye
9. Texas Tech, 8-1, 1,091	Beat Kansas State 43-20
10. Notre Dame, 6-2, 1,071	Beat Boston College 25-10
11. Oklahoma, 7-2, 850	Beat Tennessee 33-27
12. Virginia, 8-1, 838	Beat California 33-21
13. Texas, 7-2, 835	Beat Vanderbilt 34-31
14. Louisville, 7-1, 827	Beat Virginia Tech 28-16
15. Vanderbilt, 7-2, 698	Lost to Texas 34-31
16. Georgia Tech, 8-1, 667	Lost to NC State 48-36
17. Utah, 7-2, 560	Beat Cincinnati 45-14
18. Miami, 6-2, 558	Lost to SMU 26-20
19. Missouri, 6-2, 491	Bye
20. USC, 6-2, 453	Beat Nebraska 21-17
21. Michigan, 7-2, 344	Beat Purdue 21-16
22. Memphis 8-1, 224	Beat Rice 38-14
23. Tennessee, 6-3, 171	Lost to Oklahoma 33-27
24. Washington, 6-2, 110	Bye
25. Cincinnati, 7-2, 77	Lost to Utah 45-14

In the previous voting, the Huskies had been the victims of others getting overly intrigued with a team that was the latest flavor of the month such as Vanderbilt, which rose to No. 9 in the AP poll before losing to Texas 34-31 this past Saturday.

The Commodores, however, were never the nation's ninth-best team. They're No. 15 now, and probably not that good. They've been a program that has struggled in the past and probably couldn't beat the UW in a head-to-head meeting even now

The same goes for other weekend losers such as Georgia Tech and Houston, both teams that likely would have difficulty hanging with the Huskies.

While missing from the first 11 AP polls released this season, the UW has a chance to finish 9-3 by beating Wisconsin, Purdue and UCLA, teams it will be favored over, or even 10-2 with an upset somehow of sixth-ranked Oregon at the end of the schedule.

After being ignored by voters for two-plus months, the Huskies actually could finish fairly high in the Top 25 should they go out with a flourish.

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