Huskies ranked 12th in the first College Football Playoff rankings
If the Washington Huskies are planning a return trip to the College Football Playoff, they are going to need some help.
The Huskies (7-1, 4-1 Pac-12) checked in at No. 12 when the first CFP rankings of the season were released Tuesday. Under the current format, a 13-member selection committee chooses what it deems to be the four best teams in college football. Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame and defending national champion Clemson were in the Top 4 of the first poll.
They’re followed by Oklahoma, Ohio State, Penn State, TCU, Wisconsin and Miami to round out the Top 10. Oklahoma State came in 11th.
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Based off the first set of rankings, it appears the Huskies are the Pac-12’s best and, possibly, only chance to return to the CFP.
There’s CFP has never had a two-loss team reach the semifinal. As for UW, it is the highest-seeded Pac-12 team in the rankings. Southern California is 17th followed by Stanford at No. 21 with Arizona at No. 22 and Washington State coming in at No. 25.
The Huskies host rival Oregon at 7 p.m. Saturday and will finish the year by playing at Stanford before hosting Utah and Washington State at home.
Should the Huskies win their final three games, they’d potentially carry two wins against Top 25 opponents into the Pac-12 Championship Game.
UW enjoyed one of the best years in program history in 2016 when it reached the playoff. The Huskies went finished the season with a 12-1 record and won the Pac-12 before facing Alabama in the semifinal. The Crimson Tide handed the Huskies a 24-7 loss and advanced to the national title game where they lost to the Clemson Tigers.
Ryan S. Clark: @ryan_s_clark
This story was originally published October 31, 2017 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Huskies ranked 12th in the first College Football Playoff rankings."