Athletics 133:11-0 Washington deserves more credit

It’s time to put some credit on Washington’s name.

Based on these rankings, the Huskies are undefeated and have the best wins in the nation, but they are ranked outside the top four in the College Football Playoff Selection Committee’s regular season rankings. That should change this week. After a 22-20 win over Oregon State on a rainy night in Corvallis, Washington has one of the most impressive resumes in the nation. The Huskies moved up to No. 2 in The Athletics 133 this week.

Washington beat Oregon, Arizona, Utah, Oregon State and USC. No one can match such great achievements. Yes, the Huskies needed a pick six and a questionable penalty to escape Arizona State and they played Stanford close, but no team blows everyone away every week.

Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. struggled at times with the Beaver defense, completing 13 of 28 passes in tight quarters, accounting for all three touchdowns and coming up with a clutch third-down completion to Rome Odunze to seal the game. As Washington entered a betting underdog.

Georgia continues to look like the best team in the country and is getting better every week, but everyone, including Washington, looks like they’re going to lose. Oregon will be favored if the Ducks and Huskies meet again in the Pac-12 championship game, but that’s for another time. Right now, Washington needs to be higher than fourth, not just the top four.

Here’s this week’s Athletics 133.

1-10

Other than Washington moving up, the only change in the top 10 is Missouri going in with a win over 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 scenario could easily work out, with the winner of Georgia, Washington, Florida State and Michigan/Ohio State rounding out the top four. But a gruesome leg injury to Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis could raise that possibility and prompt some difficult CFP discussions about the Noles. They will 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 look better as the season ends, and the Nittany Lions move behind Ole Miss to No. 12 because of the Rebels’ wins over LSU and Tulane. After BYU misses out, Oklahoma drops to No. 14. Oregon State dropped to No. 16 after the loss, falling behind Arizona, which demolished Utah 42-18 and beat the Beavers in October. James Madison’s undefeated streak is over, but the Dukes won’t fall out of the top 25 because of the overtime loss and JMU still has a nice win over Troy. Barring JMU’s full bowl eligibility, No. 20 Tulane is in the lead for a New Year’s Six berth, but the Green Wave play UTSA this week before a potential AAC championship game could see No. 26 SMU, which just won at Memphis.

Toledo is 10-1 in the NY6 mix after a late win over Bowling Green; The Rockets moved into the top 25. Iowa’s drop to No. 16 in the CFP rankings last week was surprising, especially since it wasn’t ranked in the AP Poll. They are number 24 here this week. The Hawkeyes are winless against a team with more than six wins and were swept by Penn State. Their defense is elite, but Iowa has eluded several .500 Big Ten West teams in recent weeks. In Week 1, the Rockets lost to Illinois and Iowa beat the Illini to get ahead of Toledo.

26-50

Clemson moved up to No. 30 after beating North Carolina. UNLV is all the way up to 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 don’t know why Tennessee is ranked number 33 here in the polls.

Miami’s one-point loss at Louisville saw the Hurricanes slip to No. 38 and remain ahead of Texas A&M in head-to-head results. Duke continues its slide, now down to No. 40 after a loss to Virginia. Wyoming moved back to No. 43 with the help of its season-opening win over Texas Tech, which beat UCF for bowl eligibility.

New Mexico State 31-10 at Auburn to move to 9-3 for Aggies jump to No. 37. Fightin’ Jerry Kills snaps seven-game winning streak with early losses to UMass and Hawaii to move to 9-3. place.

51-75

After losses to South Carolina and Missouri, Kentucky and Florida fell out of the top 50. Georgia Tech moved up to No. 54 to become bowl eligible after beating Syracuse. Maryland slides two spots to No. 55 after recently playing Michigan. Appalachian State’s overtime win at James Madison sees the Mountaineers move to No. 62.

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

76-100

In the third week of the edition, Colorado was No. 14 in these rankings and Arkansas State was dead last at No. 133. Now they are next to each other. Colorado has lost six of seven, including a 56-14 drubbing by Washington State on Friday night to drop to No. 77. Arkansas State dropped 77 points on Texas State to qualify for a bowl and move up to No. 78. .

No. 83 Virginia and No. 84 Michigan State aren’t going to a bowl game, but they picked up conference wins over the weekend. Georgia Southern’s losses to Old Dominion and Georgia State’s losses to LSU would drop Sun Belt rivals to Nos. 85 and 86. It was a rare season for No. 89 Army, which lost to UMass and Louisiana-Monroe despite wins over USA, Air Force and Coastal Carolina. The Dark Knights are the hardest team to rank and only the Navy remains.

101-133

Navy’s comeback season continues, now 5-5 and up to No. 107 after a win over East Carolina. New Mexico beats Fresno State to move to No. 111. Sam Houston continues to fight back, leading Western Kentucky before losing in the fourth quarter. As a result, the Bearcats move to number 127. Kent State lost to Ball State 34-3 to stay at No. 133 as the only one-win team in the FBS.

The Athletics 133 Rankings Series is part of its partnership with AllState.

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