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Ahead of the 2026 college football season, USA TODAY ranked the top 25 programs in the sport, and the Washington Huskies found themselves among the back end of the rankings at No. 22.
"The Huskies emerged as one of the top programs in the 1980s and 90s under Don James and won a national championship in 1991," the article reasoned. "In recent times, Chris Petersen took Washington to the playoff and Kalen DeBoer had them in the national title game in 2023. The Huskies have made a bowl in every non-COVID season but one since 2010 and posted double-digit wins five times."
That places the Huskies as the No. 8 program in the Big Ten, behind No. 1 Ohio State, No. 7 Michigan, No. 10 USC, No. 11 Oregon, No. 12 Penn State, No. 17 Indiana, and No. 20 Nebraska. However, there's an argument for the Huskies to be at least a few spots higher on the list.
Petersen not only led the Huskies to the College Football Playoff, but he added a pair of Pac-12 championships and three straight New Year's Six bowls along the way before DeBoer's dominant 25-3 run behind the 2022 and 2023 seasons as Washington has rebuilt one of the sport's most consistent programs following 2008's 0-12 campaign.
Since 2015, the Huskies are 94-43, and heading into 2026, Jedd Fisch has an opportunity to improve on that and earn some signature wins over teams ranked ahead of UW on this list.
Washington will host the Hoosiers and Nittany Lions in November, while taking on the Ducks and Trojans on the road. If Fisch can continue to build on a 9-4 campaign from the 2025 season, he could help the Huskies climb up the list as he looks to become the third head coach to lead the program to the College Football Playoff.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: USA TODAY ranks Washington among top 25 college football programs
