Washington makes the College Football Playoff.
Unless the College Football Playoff committee just has to get two Big Ten teams in following Saturday’s action, then that is the case. The No. 4 Huskies won the Pac-12 championship with an impressive 41-10 victory against No. 8 Colorado on Friday, and that should be case closed. Do they belong in the playoff?
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“I think there’s no doubt about that,” Washington coach Chris Petersen said when asked on the FOX telecast.
Three third-quarter interceptions helped break the game open, and despite an off-night by Heisman Trophy candidate Jake Browning (9 of 24, 118 yards, two touchdowns) the Huskies solidified their playoff case behind their rushing attack. Running backs Myles Gaskin (29 carries, 159 yards) and Lavon Coleman (18 carries, 101 yards, touchdown) led an attack that racked up 265 yards and averaged 4.9 yards per carry.
In his third season, Petersen took Washington to new heights — even if he’s in a familiar spot. Much like those years at Boise State, Petersen’s team is the team that not enough people believe in, even though it took care of business and won a conference championship. Unlike a few seasons at Boise State, Petersen was granted a mulligan for that one loss, and took advantage of it.
The Huskies will be picked apart — despite their Pac-12 championship — as a team that might not belong. But none of those arguments is going to keep this team out of the College Football Playoff.
That strength-of-schedule? Washington’s nonconference schedule is embarrassing, but the Pac-12 schedule isn’t its fault. Stanford was a top-10 team at the time. It’s not the Huskies’ fault Oregon went 4-8, and they overwhelmed another top-10 team in Colorado. It’s not the toughest path to the playoff, but the best path to the playoff is to not get tangled in arguments with two-loss teams in the final weekend. The Big Ten definitely has that problem right now.
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What about USC? What about the Trojans? They beat Washington and Colorado, but also started the season 1-3. Don’t lose to Stanford or Utah. Alabama beat USC 52-6. The Huskies can’t do much worse.
What about Michigan? That “razor-thin” margin CFP chairman Kirby Hocutt spoke of between the Huskies and Wolverines won’t move in Michigan’s direction, not after Washington hammered a team the Wolverines beat by 17 earlier this season. Michigan might be better than Washington, but it does not matter one bit. If the Wolverines get into the playoff, then it’s not going to be at the expense of the Huskies.
How good are the Huskies? Washington entered the weekend as one of two teams ranked in top 10 in scoring offense and scoring defense. The other team? Ohio State, which didn’t even have to play in a conference championship game.
What about Browning? The quarterback didn’t have his best night, but he didn’t have to. Washington relied on a strong running game behind Gaskin and Coleman, along with three third-quarter interceptions to take control. Receiver John Ross will be one of the most-dynamic players in the playoff. They are solid on both sides of the ball.
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When you sort it all out, Washington didn’t play a great schedule and had one bad loss, like everybody else. Well, everybody else except Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson had at least two losses. The Huskies won their conference — a Power 5 conference at that — and looked pretty good doing it, especially in the second half.
Are they good enough to challenge Alabama? Who is? That’s become a hip-new metric used to measure teams. If Washington draws the Crimson Tide, then it'll be a heavy underdog, just like everybody else. A decade ago, Petersen led a 7.5-point underdog Boise State into the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma; the rest is trick plays and history. He gave that team a reason to believe.
Now, that same challenge comes on a bigger stage. Washington is in the College Football Playoff.
There’s no doubt about that.
