The Athletic 133: 11-0 Washington deserves more respect

It’s time to bring some respect back to Washington’s name.

The Huskies are undefeated and have the nation’s best winning streak based on these rankings, but they have consistently sat outside the top four of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee’s season rankings. That should change this week. After a 22-20 win against Oregon State on a rainy night in Corvallis, Washington has the most impressive resume in the country. The Huskies move up to No. 2 in this week’s Athletic 133.

Washington has wins over Oregon, Arizona, Utah, Oregon State and USC. No one can match so many good wins. Yes, the Huskies needed a pick six and a questionable penalty to escape Arizona State and played close to Stanford, but no team blows everyone out every week.

Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. struggled at times against the Beaver defense, completing 13 of 28 passes, but he was responsible for all three touchdowns in a tough environment, and he came up with a third-down completion to Rome Odunze to seal a game. who entered Washington as a gambling underdog.

Georgia remains the best team in the country and is getting better every week, but everyone else seems to be getting beat, including Washington. Perhaps Oregon will be favored when the Ducks and Huskies meet again in the Pac-12 championship game, but that’s for another time. At this point, Washington deserves to be not only in the top four, but higher than fourth.

Here is this week’s Athletic 133.

1-10

Other than Washington moving up, the only change in the top 10 is the arrival of Missouri after beating Florida to move to 9-2.

We have never seen a season with five 11-0 Power 5 teams in the CFP era. In theory, the situation could easily resolve itself, with Georgia, Washington, Florida State and the winner of Michigan State/Ohio moving into the top four. But Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis’ devastating leg injury could change that possibility and create some tough CFP conversations about the ‘Noles. They play Louisville in the ACC championship game, which could be a top-10 matchup.

11-25

Penn State’s wins over Iowa and West Virginia looked better as the season progressed, and the Nittany Lions moved up to No. 12 behind Ole Miss due to the Rebels’ wins against LSU and Tulane. Oklahoma drops to No. 14 after escaping BYU. Oregon State drops to No. 16 after the loss, falling just behind Arizona, which demolished Utah 42-18 and defeated the Beavers in October. James Madison’s undefeated streak is over, but the Dukes aren’t out of the top 25 because it was an overtime loss and JMU is still coming off a good win against Troy. JMU’s exemption from playing in the full bowl was denied, so No. 20 Tulane is in the lead position for the New Year’s Six spot, but the Green Wave will play UTSA this week for a potential AAC championship game where they will face No. 26 SMU could see, who just won in Memphis.

Toledo is 10-1 and also in that NY6 mix after a late win against Bowling Green; the Rockets also land in the top 25. Iowa’s landing at No. 16 in last week’s CFP rankings was surprising, especially since it wasn’t ranked in the AP Poll. They are No. 24 here this week. The Hawkeyes are without a win over a team with more than six wins and were blown out by Penn State. Their defense is elite, but Iowa has escaped several .500 Big Ten West teams in recent weeks. They are ahead of Toledo because the Rockets lost to Illinois in Week 1 and Iowa defeated the Illini.

26-50

Clemson moves up to No. 30 after beating North Carolina. UNLV is ranked No. 32 after coming back to beat Air Force. UCLA’s comfortable win over USC moves the Bruins to No. 34 and USC to No. 35. I still have no idea why Tennessee, No. 33 here, is in the polls.

Miami’s one-score loss to Louisville only sees the Hurricanes slip to No. 38 and ahead of Texas A&M due to their head-to-head record. Duke continues to slide, now down to No. 40 after a loss to Virginia. Wyoming bounces back to No. 43, helped by its early-season win against Texas Tech, which defeated UCF to become bowl eligible.

New Mexico State’s 31-10 win at Auburn to move to 9-3 moves the Aggies up to No. 37. The Fightin’ Jerry Kills have won seven straight games and overcome early losses to UMass and Hawaii, leaving them have become a bizarre team. place.

51-75

Kentucky and Florida fall out of the top 50 after losses to South Carolina and Missouri, respectively. Georgia Tech is ranked No. 54 after beating Syracuse and is bowl eligible. Maryland moves just two spots to No. 55 after playing Michigan close. Appalachian State’s win over James Madison moves the Mountaineers up to No. 62.

Wisconsin got back on track with an overtime win against Nebraska to move up to No. 66. Twelve teams in this group of 25 need a win this weekend to reach a bowl game.

76-100

In the Week 3 edition of these rankings, Colorado was ranked No. 14 and Arkansas State was dead last at No. 133. Now they are side by side. Colorado has lost six of seven, including a 56-14 pounding by Washington State on Friday night, to fall to No. 77. Arkansas State dropped 77 points to Texas State to qualify for bowling and at to move to number 78. .

No. No. 83 Virginia and No. 84 Michigan State aren’t going to a bowl game, but they have conference wins this weekend. Georgia Southern’s loss to Old Dominion and Georgia State’s loss to LSU drop the Sun Belt rivals to Nos. 85 and 86, respectively. It’s been a strange season for No. 89 Army, which had wins against UTSA, Air Force and Coastal Carolina, but losses against UMass and Louisiana-Monroe. The Black Knights are the strongest team to rank, with only Navy left.

101-133

Navy’s bounce-back season continues, now 5-5 and up to No. 107 after beating East Carolina. New Mexico beat Fresno State to move up to No. 111. Sam Houston continues to battle and leads Western Kentucky in the fourth quarter before losing. As a result, the Bearkats rise to No. 127. Kent State lost 34-3 to Ball State and remains at No. 133 as the only team with one win in FBS.

The Athletic 133 Rankings series is part of a partnership with AllState.

The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories prior to publication.

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