Washington Huskies Ranking: 83/134
[Check out RJ Young’s ultimate 134 college football rankings here]
Conference ranking: 15th in Big Ten (+8000 to win conference)
Teams ahead of them: Michigan State (82), Syracuse (81), Toledo (80), Oregon State (79), Mississippi State (78)
Teams behind them: Wyoming (84), Boston College (85), Wake Forest (86), Illinois (87), Purdue (88)
RJ’s take: It’s rare to see a program finish as a title runner-up and a month later feel like it totally lost its way. And that’s saying quite a bit, as Texas Christian lost to Georgia in the previous year’s national title game 65-7 — the worst bowl beating in history — and even the Horned Frogs didn’t smell this bad by summer.
The Husky program now wreaks of inexperience, fear of the unknown Big Ten and professional transfers — beginning with a coach, Jedd Fisch, who has made a career like a rolling stone gathering no moss.
Fisch took over Washington after Kalen DeBoer made like a duck in winter and flew South. When Fisch, who a month earlier had told Arizona fans he wasn’t going anywhere, stepped into Montlake, he saw the cupboard not just empty but fighting what felt like an oncoming famine. The Huskies have only two returning starters off that Pac-12 title team, though Fisch is doing his best not to let the program burn. He held onto 22 scholarship players.
He also added Mississippi State transfer QB Will Rogers, who, having played in the late Mike Leach’s air raid system for most of his career, holds career records in Starkville for passing yards, completions and TDs. In 2021, Rogers threw for more than 4,700 yards with 36 TDs to nine INTs. He can sling it, but he’s gonna need help. Fisch added other transfers, but the Huskies ain’t playing in the Pac-12 anymore. They’re playing in the Big Ten, where warm and sunny weather goes to die by Nov. 1.
Fisch hired Steve Belichick to coordinate the defense and brought Brennan Carroll over from Tucson to run the offense. The head coach also invited their famous fathers, Bill and Pete, respectively, to come by and put a lemony Lysol fragrance on the program. But it still smells rank at Husky Stadium.
Washington’s Win Total Odds: Over 7.5 (-120) Under 7.5 (+100)
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