Washington at #4 in Penultimate CFP Rankings

With the release of the second-to-last College Football Playoff rankings until after conference championship weekend, the Huskies find themselves back in the top four.

Photo courtesy of ESPN/CFP

In the event of a Washington victory over Colorado come Friday, it’s likely the Huskies remain in the top four. This would be almost guaranteed if Clemson were to lose to Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game, when Washington would presumably slide up to #3 while the winner of the B1G would then most likely become the 4th seed.

If Clemson and Washington win, then UW will probably stay at #4 barring an absolute blowout of Colorado and a less-than-convincing victory by Clemson, in which case the two could swap places.

The alternative is that Wisconsin or Penn State, both at 10-2, could potentially be given the #4 seed if the playoff committee deems their strength of record and B1G championship more rewarding than Washington’s hypothetical 12-1 if they win the Pac 12 Championship Game. If that happens and Washington wins the Pac championship, then they would go to the Rose Bowl against the #3 B1G team which would probably be Michigan.

Of course, all that is moot if Ralphie beats the Dawgs on Friday.

Photo courtesy of ESPN/CFP

Other Pac 12 schools ranked in the penultimate CFP rankings include 9 Colorado, 11 USC, 18 Stanford, and 20 Utah. Meanwhile the B1G has four teams in the top 10 but none in their conference in the rest of the top 25. That’s simply an observation that’s of course not meant to imply anything about the depth of the B1G’s strength and should under no circumstances be used as an argument for being outraged in the case that a B1G champion gets in over Washington if they win the Pac 12.

Do good things, don’t do bad things, and bow down to Washington.