Huskies move up one spot to #5 in Coaches Poll; Stay #6 in AP Poll

The Washington Huskies moved up one spot to #5 in this week’s Coaches Poll. That jump was made possible after #5 USC lost on Friday to night to Washington State. The Dawgs had 1,330 points which is up from 1,277 the previous week. Their margin of points over the team behind them also shrank from about 150 to 90.

However, the Huskies didn’t get the same benefit of the doubt in the AP Poll. Georgia moved ahead of the Huskies following their shutout victory over Tennessee. In that poll, Washington also saw an increase in points from 1,188 to 1,218 but it wasn’t good enough to stay ahead of Georgia. The Bulldogs saw a nearly 130 point increase which vaulted them into taking USC’s vacated spot.

A reminder to all Husky fans that the only ranking that matters is the college football playoff ranking. The Huskies have a backloaded schedule and if they end up undefeated then it doesn’t matter what the SEC voters think.

Next week doesn’t appear to be a great opportunity for the Huskies to gain more ground. Alabama, Penn State, and Georgia all play on the road but none of them are against a ranked opponent. Meanwhile, Clemson and Oklahoma also play unranked opponents but at home.

Washington will still have a few opportunities left to make their mark against ranked teams later in the season. Washington State (11/11), USC (15/14), and Utah (18/20) were all in both the coaches and AP polls respectively. USC isn’t on the UW schedule but there is still a chance they could see the Trojans in the Pac-12 title game despite their loss this week. Stanford and Oregon were in the others receiving votes category in the coaches poll and could move into the rankings by the time they meet up with Washington with a few wins in between.