It is amazing what can happen over the course of a week. The Washington Huskies were 6-2 heading into what should have been a cake walk of a road game at toothless Wiconsin. They were ranked No. 23 overall in the first College Football Playoffs rankings only a week ago. Two seasons ago, U-Dub was playing for a national title. Now staring 6-3 in the face after the Wisconsin loss, what comes next?
There was some belief that Washington could be a Big Ten darling in November, or at least be an agent of chaos in a league that should only seed three teams to the playoff. Regardless, a low-scoring affair resulting in a third defeat did the improbable. Nobody is talking about the Huskies. This is a team that has had Oregon's number quite recently. Unfortunately, the page has been turned on them.
If you want proof of it, look no further than the latest College Football Playoff rankings after Week 11.
- Ohio State Buckeyes (9-0)
- Indiana Hoosiers (10-0)
- Texas A&M Aggies (9-0)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (8-1)
- Georgia Bulldogs (8-1)
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (9-1)
- Ole Miss Rebels (9-1)
- Oregon Ducks (8-1)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2)
- Texas Longhorns (7-2)
- Oklahoma Sooners (7-2)
- BYU Cougars (8-1)
- Utah Utes (7-2)
- Vanderbilt Commodores (8-2)
- Miami Hurricanes (7-2)
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8-1)
- USC Trojans (7-2)
- Michigan Wolverines (7-2)
- Virginia Cavaliers (8-2)
- Louisville Cardinals (7-2)
- Iowa Hawkeyes (6-3)
- Pittsburgh Panthers (7-2)
- Tennessee Volunteers (6-3)
- South Florida Bulls (7-2)
- Cincinnati Bearcats (7-2)
There was not a mention of this team during the telecast that went an hour long in primetime on a Tuesday night. This is what losing to Wisconsin will do to your team. Iowa lost a rough one in the rain by a similar margin, and that one was at home! Granted it was to Oregon, but the Hawkeyes have the same record as the Huskies, yet they are comfortably in the playoff field for a second week in a row.
At the end of the day, this all comes back to one thing and one thing only. That would be Jedd Fisch...
Washington falls into obscurity in latest College Football Playoff rankings
It was arguably the hardest part about watching the game on Saturday evening. Fisch's body language was terrible. He did not want to be there. Frankly, nobody did, as it looked nasty in Madison. But even more so, Fisch did not look like he wanted to be there. It is something about how the water drips off a Florida man's Washingtonian visor in the early part of November in the Upper Midwest.
This is not to say he is for sure going to take over at his alma mater of Florida, mostly because Lane Kiffin and Eliah Drinkwitz could both say no. However, you cannot have a head coach look that checked out on the sidelines and expect for the powers at be to take you seriously. Fisch is an excellent coach, but the Washington fit always felt weird. Does Ryan Grubb want to come back soon?
Overall, Washington did it to itself to not be mentioned anywhere at all during the latest College Football Playoff rankings. Again, this team had a decent shot to decide who was going to come out of the Big Ten this season. Instead, Washington decided to punt on going back to the playoff once again. Demond Williams Jr. could have certainly played better, but Fisch mailed it in and got burned.
Unless Washington beats Oregon in a few weeks, we might not see the Huskies be ranked again.