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Huskies and the Top 25 Rankings ... Holding Steady

The Huskies saw the epic conclusion to a hard-fought encounter with Stanford result in a new-found respect across the nation and firming of their grasp in the middle of the polls.

Stephen Lam

There isn't much left to rehash with the Stanford game from Saturday night.  You can link to our coverage below.  All that is left to discuss is the fallout of the hard-fought loss as it relates to the weekly polls.  Fortunately for the Huskies, their game was viewed by a sizable national audience, including dozens of pollsters, and the final score seemed to be put in the correct context if the Week 7 poll results are to be believed.  The Huskies dropped just one spot in the AP to #16 and one spot in the USA Today Coaches Poll to #18.

The lack of much impact in the polls as a result of the loss is due in no short part to the substantial effort mustered by the Huskies in defeat.  The Huskies offense thoroughly outshined that of their hosts as the Huskies racked up 489 yards to Stanford's 279 against the vaunted Cardinal front seven.  In addition, the Huskies own defense shined against dark-horse Heisman Candidate, Kevin Hogan, who was held to just 12-20 passing for 100 yards.  The Huskies held Stanford to just 4-14 on third down conversions and stopped the Cardinal's lone fourth-down attempt on one of the more athletic plays you'll ever see a linebacker (Travis Feeny) make in open space.

The Huskies are one of just four Pac 12 teams left in the polls as Arizona State again fell out following a heart-breaking loss to Notre Dame on a neutral field.  UCLA, Stanford and Oregon are the other Pac 12 teams ahead of UW (although, is there anybody out there that thinks UCLA should be higher ranked than UW?).  The Huskies matchup against the second top five opponent in as many weeks when they host the Oregon Ducks.

AP Poll - Week 7

Rank Team Record Votes Previous
1 Alabama (55) 5-0 1,495 1
2 Oregon (5) 5-0 1,424 2
3 Clemson 5-0 1,359 3
4 Ohio State 6-0 1,305 4
5 Stanford 5-0 1,278 5
6 Florida State 5-0 1,158 8
7 Georgia 4-1 1,138 6
8 Louisville 5-0 1,051 7
9 Texas A&M 4-1 1,003 9
10 LSU 5-1 993 10
11 UCLA 4-0 844 12
12 Oklahoma 5-0 819 11
13 Miami (FL) 5-0 780 14
14 South Carolina 4-1 764 13
15 Baylor 4-0 681 17
16 Washington 4-1 556 15
17 Florida 4-1 536 18
18 Michigan 5-0 514 19
19 Northwestern 4-1 418 16
20 Texas Tech 5-0 358 20
21 Fresno State 5-0 258 23
22 Oklahoma State 4-1 204 21
23 Northern Illinois 5-0 138 NR
24 Virginia Tech 5-1 115 NR
25 Missouri 5-0 105 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Auburn 61, Notre Dame 50, Nebraska 35, Wisconsin 29, Michigan State 16, UCF 7, Arizona State 3, Mississippi 3, Rutgers 2

USA Today Coaches Poll - Week 7

RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS RANK
1 Alabama (57) 5-0 1544 1
2 Oregon (4) 5-0 1486 2
3 Clemson (1) 5-0 1356 4
3 Ohio St. 6-0 1356 3
5 Stanford 5-0 1327 5
6 Florida St. 5-0 1188 8
7 Georgia 4-1 1130 6
8 Louisville 5-0 1105 7
9 Texas A&M 4-1 1067 9
10 Oklahoma 5-0 964 10
11 LSU 5-1 953 11
12 South Carolina 4-1 833 12
13 UCLA 4-0 807 13
14 Miami 5-0 747 14
15 Baylor 4-0 698 16
16 Michigan 5-0 591 17
17 Florida 4-1 574 19
18 Northwestern 4-1 393 15
19 Washington 4-1 366 18
20 Oklahoma St. 4-1 350 20
21 Texas Tech 5-0 336 22
22 Fresno St. 5-0 325 21
23 Northern Illinois 5-0 169 23
24 Nebraska 4-1 125 25
25 Virginia Tech 5-1 97 NR