Thursday Dots: Pleading for Fifth

Buddy, you’re a young man, hard man

Shouting in the street, gonna take on the Dots someday

• The season’s first CFP rankings came out on Wednesday and the Huskies check in at #5, as expected. Christian Caple has thoughts on the #5 ranking. Most pertinently, Caple reminds us that this first batch of rankings doesn’t have any tangible impact. It does not impact where the teams will fall when the committee selects the group of four at the end of the year. Also, with two teams ahead of them playing head to head, the Dawgs are all but assured to be in the field by winning out.

• Jon Wilner has his weekly picks and favors the Dawgs over the Trojans in the Pac-12 game of the week. USC has the worst record against the spread in the entire conference. Wilner also notes that the game features two great offenses, but only one terrible defense (USC) since UW’s defense has at least been average over the course of the season.

• Rome Odunze has been so consistently excellent this year that he has played his way into the conversation of the greatest receiver in Husky history. His dominance has been so consistent that it’s almost hard to find anything new to say about him. Mike Vorel took on the challenge and wrote an excellent piece on how Odunze got to this stage and a moment at Husky Stadium that brought his football career full circle.

• Michael Penix spoke to the media after practice on Wednesday. Chris Fetters has the summary of Penix’s statements, including his history with Caleb Williams before their showdown on Saturday. Most notably, Penix seems to be over his illness and back to 100% strength.

• In non-football news, the Huskies got a big win in tennis with a doubles victory at the Fall Nationals. Meanwhile, the volleyball team will seek to continue its development with a northern California trip to Stanford and Cal.