Inside The Huskies

Huskies Move Closer to AP Top 25, But Sit On Outside Looking In

The UW will need to win at Michigan to move up, which is no easy task.
Dan Raley|
Demond Williams Jr. and the Huskies moved closer to the AP's Top 25.
Demond Williams Jr. and the Huskies moved closer to the AP's Top 25. | Dave Sizer photo

Five wins in six outings couldn't move the University of Washington football team into the Associated Press poll Top 25, but the Huskies are getting closer.

On Sunday, the UW accumulated 36 points in the weekly balloting to stand 28th among the vote-getters, with only Illinois and Michigan getting in the way of Jedd Fisch's team (5-1 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) and a national ranking.

It should be noted, though, that over the weekend the Illini lost badly to No. 1 Ohio State 34-16 and Michigan was beaten even worse by now No. 20 USC 31-13, while the Huskies enjoyed a 38-19 victory over Rutgers on Friday night.

For UW, the road to the Top 25 now will go through Michigan, with the Huskies needing to beat the Wolverines (4-2 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) in Ann Arbor next Saturday to move up, not an easy ask.

These guys from Montlake haven't been ranked since the end of the 2023 season, when the Kalen DeBoer-coached Huskies finished No. 2 after losing to the Michigan 34-13 in the College Football Playoff national championship game.

Ohio State (6-0 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) retained the top spot in the AP poll by a wide margin over Miami (5-0 overall, 2-0 ACC), which was idle.

The Buckeyes, who beat the UW 24-6 on Sept. 27, have piled up 1,631 points and 50 first-place votes, compared to the Hurricanes' 1,582 and 13 totals.

Indiana (6-0 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) was duly rewarded for its 30-20 victory over Oregon in Eugene by moving up four spots in the AP poll to third, while the Ducks (5-1 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) dropped from No. 3 to eighth.

And, in case you were wondering, the Hoosiers and Buckeyes are not scheduled to meet during the regular season, but, of course, could be paired in a Big Ten championship game or CFP playoffs, or both.

From a precursory glance, the following teams might be a bit overrated at this juncture: Texas Tech (6-0 overall, 3-0 Big 12) sitting at No. 7, Georgia Tech (6-0 overall, 3-0 ACC) at No. 12, Vanderbilt at No. 17, Virginia (5-1 overall, 3-0 SEC) at No. 18, South Florida (5-1 overall, 2-0 American) at No. 19 and Memphis (6-0 overall, 2-0 American) at No. 22.

It would be hard to imagine any of them being favored over Washington in a head-to-head match-up anywhere down the line.

While the Huskies couldn't crack the AP 25, they did show up in other polls, with On3 putting them at No. 22 in its ranking.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Published
Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

Home/Football