Huskies move up to needed 4th in College Football Playoff rankings. Can they stay there?
The Washington Huskies have reached where they need to be two weeks before they ultimately need to be there.
Now, can they stay there.
UW jumped one spot from fifth to the coveted fourth in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released by the CFP’s committee Tuesday.
The top four teams in the final CFP poll to be released Sunday, Dec. 3, will play in the national semifinals, in the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.
That sets up a mammoth-stakes Apple Cup at Husky Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m. for UW against arch-rival Washington State (5-6). It’s the last Apple Cup, first played in 1900, to played with the Huskies and Cougars as members of the Pac-12 Conference, which is breaking up after this season.
Washington has already earned a place in the Pac-12 championship game in Las Vegas next week against a foe still to be determined. But the Huskies need to keep winning to hold their place in CFP rankings to stay on track for their ultimate goal.
The Huskies (11-0) swapped places with Florida State (11-0) in this week’s playoff rankings.
That’s in the wake of Washington’s 22-20 win over 11th-ranked Oregon State in the rain and noise in Corvallis last weekend. Michael Penix Jr., UW’s Heisman Trophy-candidate, threw a clutch pass to top receiver Rome Odunze in one-on-one coverage on third down late to seal the Huskies’ latest win.
Florida State fell behind 13-0 at home to lower-division North Alabama last weekend. FSU lost its starting quarterback Jordan Travis before rallying for the last 58 points in the Seminoles’ win.
The top three in the playoff rankings remained the same from last week. Unbeaten defending national-champion Georgia remained number one in the latest CFP poll. Ohio State is second and Michigan is third.
Ohio State plays at Michigan on Saturday in a Big Ten regular-season finale.
Florida State plays at Florida (5-6) on Saturday.
This story was originally published November 21, 2023 at 4:45 PM.
