Jedd Fisch has had a pretty instrumental offseason. He's brought in one of the top recruiting classes in the country last year, retained many of his best players (yes, like Demond Williams Jr.), and filled out the holes with dynamic transfers. Yet, ESPN isn't impressed. In fact, they have Washington ranked towards the bottom of the Big Ten heading into next season.
It's disrespectful to have the Huskies down with UCLA and Northwestern in the bottom half of the Big Ten. It's a slam to what Jedd Fisch has built and how this program actually should be taking another giant leap forward this season. The Huskies are coming off an eight-win season (with a ninth in the bowl game). UW finished 7th in the conference, yet ESPN says next season it'll be 12th.
ESPN has the Huskies ranked as No. 12 in the Big Ten for 2026 and it's a shame
Related: Jedd Fisch lands a top OL in Colorado as the Huskies climb towards a top-10 class
The justification for the Huskies being so low by ESPN isn't there. It's hard to see the logic, while the article claims there have been significant losses (there have). Such as Jonah Coleman, Ephesians Prysock, Tacario Davis, Denzel Boston, and even Adam Mohammed. But then it goes on to say how impressive it is that Fisch has put together a top-20 recruiting class and added talent in the portal.
It almost feels as if it's an "out of sight, out of mind" rating. The writer isn't paying much attention to the Huskies, so he ranked them lower. Or it could be that "well, the Big Ten is loaded and someone has to be ranked No. 12." Who knows, but either way it's a sign of disrespect.
Jedd Fisch isn't scared of bulletin board material. He has even made up and worn shirts that said "Where's Washington?" after being disrespected by a top-25 media poll. He's not above using this sort of stuff as a chip. This is another great example.
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