The Athletic 133: 11-0 Washington deserves more respect

It’s time to give back some respect Washington‘The name of.

The Huskies are undefeated and have the best win in the country, based on these rankings, but they have continually ranked outside the top four in the College Football Playoff selection committee’s in-season rankings. That must change this week. After earning a 22-20 victory over 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 won Oregon, Arizona, Utah, Oregon State And U.S.C.. No one can match that many good wins. Yes, the Huskies needed a pick six and a questionable penalty to escape Arizona State and played Stanford close, but no team blows everyone out every week.

Strategist 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 scored a decisive third down against Rome Odunze to seal a game in which Washington entered in as an underdog bet.

Georgia continues to look like the best team in the country and is getting better every week, but everyone looks beatable, including Washington. Perhaps Oregon will be favored if the Ducks and Huskies meet again in the Pac-12 championship game, but that’s for another time. At present, Washington not only deserves to be in the top four, but also above fourth place.

Here is this week’s Athletic 133.

1-10

Aside from Washington’s progression, the only change in the top 10 is Missouri move in after beating Florida to move to 9-2.

We’ve never seen a season in the CFP era with five 11-0 Power 5 teams. In theory, the situation could be resolved easily, with Georgia, Washington, State of Florida and the Michigan/state of ohio winner placing in the top four. But Florida State quarterback’s devastating leg injury Jordan Travis could upend this possibility and create difficult conversations about the “Noles” of the CFP. They will play Louisville in the ACC championship game, which could be a top-10 game.

11-25

State of Pennsylvaniawho wins Iowa And West Virginia have looked better as the season progresses, and the Nittany Lions move up to 12th, behind Ole Mademoiselle because of The rebels win against LSU And Tulane. Oklahoma drops to #14 after escaping BYU. Oregon State falls to 16th after the loss, just behind Arizona, which demolished Utah 42-18 and beat the Beavers in October. James Madison’s unbeaten streak is over, but the Dukes are out of the top 25 because it was an overtime loss and JMU still has a good victory against Troy. JMU’s full bowl eligibility waiver was denied, so No. 20 Tulane is in prime position for the New Year’s Six spot, but the Green Wave game UTSA this week ahead of a possible AAC championship game where they could see number 26 EMSwho just won in Memphis.

Toledo is 10-1 and also in that NY6 mix after a late win against Bowling green; THE Rockets also break into the top 25. Iowa’s landing at No. 16 in last week’s CFP rankings was surprising, not least because it was unranked in the AP poll. They are #24 here this week. The Hawkeyes are winless over a team with more than six wins and were eliminated by Penn State. Their defense is elite, but Iowa has eluded several .500 Big Ten West teams in recent weeks. They’re ahead of Toledo because the Rockets lost to Illinois in week one and Iowa beat the Illini.

26-50

Clemson climbs to No. 30 after beating North Carolina. UNLV is ranked 32nd after coming back to beat Aviation. UCLA‘s comfortable win against USC puts the Bruins at 34th and USC at 35th. I still don’t understand why Tennessee#33 here, is ranked in the polls.

MiamiThe one-score loss to Louisville sees the Hurricanes slip only to 38th and remain ahead of Texas A&M due to their head-to-head result. Duke continues to slide, now ranked 40th after a loss to Virginia. Wyoming rebounded to 43rd, helped by its victory at the start of the season against Texas Technologywho beat UCF to access bowling eligibility.

New Mexico State31-10 win at Auburn to improve to 9-3 sees Aggies move up to 37th. The Fightin’ Jerry Kills have won seven straight matches, overcoming early losses against UMass and Hawaii, making them an odd team to place.

51-75

Kentucky and Florida fall out of the top 50 after losses to South Carolina and Missouri respectively. Georgia Tech is at #54 after beating Syracuse to become eligible for the bowl. Maryland slips just two spots to 55th after playing Michigan. Appalachian StateJames Madison’s overtime victory allows the Mountaineers to move up to 62nd place.

Wisconsin got back on track with an overtime victory against Nebraska to move to 66th place. Twelve teams in this group of 25 need a win this weekend to advance to a bowl game.

76-100

In the week 3 edition of these rankings, Colorado was #14 and Arkansas State was dead last at #133. Now they are side by side. Colorado lost six of seven, including a 56-14 loss to Washington State Friday evening, to fall to 77th place. Arkansas State lost by 77 points State of Texas to become bowl eligible and move up to No. 78.

No. 83 Virginia and No. 84 Michigan State won’t be attending a bowl game, but they did have some conference wins this weekend. South Georgiait’s a loss for Old Dominion And State of GeorgiaThe loss to LSU sees the Sun Belt rivals fall to 85th and 86th, respectively. It’s been a strange season for No. 89 Armywho scored victories against UTSA, Air Force and Coastal Carolina but the losses against UMass and Louisiana-Monroe. The Black Knights are the hardest team to rank and only have Marine LEFT.

101-133

Navy’s bounce-back season continues, now 5-5 and up to 107th after beating East Carolina. New Mexico beat Fresno State and goes to n°111. Sam Houston continues to fight, leading Western Kentucky in the fourth quarter before losing. THE Ourskats accordingly, move to No. 127. Kent State lost 34-3 to Ball Condition and remains 133rd as the only one-win team in FBS.

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

The Athletic maintains complete editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review articles before publication.

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