Huskies’ college football playoff semifinal: In Sugar Bowl. Against an old friend
The Huskies are in a sweet place. They’ve made the College Football Playoff.
But it didn’t literally come up roses for UW.
Washington finished second among the four teams the committee selected Sunday for the national semifinals New Year’s Day. But instead of a traditional place in the Rose Bowl for the final champion of the breaking-up Pac-12 Conference, the spot UW fans preferred, the playoff committee sent the Huskies to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
The first 13-0 team in Washington football history will play Big 12-champion Texas (12-1) at 5:45 p.m. Jan. 1.
Yes, the Longhorns’ coach is Steve Sarkisian, the former Huskies’ coach. This is the second consecutive postseason Washington has faced Sarkisian’s team. The Huskies and Texas played in the 2022 Alamo Bowl in San Antonio last December.
Second-seed Alabama, the Southeastern Conference champion, plays top-seeded Big Ten champ Michigan in the Rose Bowl, the other national semifinal New Year’s Day.
Ultimately, the difference between the Rose and Sugar Bowls doesn’t matter. The Huskies are in the national football playoffs for the second time in program history. Coach Chris Petersen’s 2016 Huskies were seeded fourth and lost to top-seed Alabama in the Peach Bowl semifinal
“Win or go home.,” Huskies coach Kalen DeBoer told ESPN Sunday morning on its playoff-selection announcement show. “You know, there’s something different about it.”
DeBoer noted his Dawgs have been playing what they’ve felt were elimination games for the playoff the last few weeks, including for the Pac-12 title game Washington won Friday night in a thriller over Oregon 34-31 in Las Vegas.
Though they’d had a spot in the Pac-12 title game clinched before the Apple Cup, the Huskies needed a last-play field goal to beat Washington State 24-21 in that annual rivlary game Thanksgiving weekend to stay in contention for the playoff.
“We kind of felt like maybe we we we in that position last week, or even in the latter part of the season, to get to this point and to be able to be part of the playoff,” DeBoer told ESPN Sunday.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun here getting ready for the semifinal game.”
Sarkisian’s Longhorns routed Oklahoma State in the Big 12 championship game on Saturday. They have one of college football’s most impressive wins this season. Texas won at Alabama 34-24 on Sept. 9.
Washington beat Texas in that Alamo Bowl last postseason 27-20.
“Kind of ironic,” Sarkisian said on ESPN Sunday about playing Washington again, this time for a spot in the national championship game Jan. 8 in Houston.
“Washington still holds a special place to me. I got my first head-coaching opportunity there,” he said.
“It’s a great challenge...but one we are looking forward to.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2023 at 10:43 AM.
