The No. 23 Washington Huskies entered Saturday’s game against Wisconsin with everything to play for. Already possessing a record of 6-2 (3-2 Big Ten) and a spot in the first edition of the 2025 College Football Playoff rankings, the Huskies needed just four more wins to have a chance at the Big Ten and national titles. It was going to be an uphill battle, but there was hope.
That hope drowned alongside the Huskies inside a soggy and snowy Camp Randall Stadium. Washington fell 13-10 to the Badgers (3-6, 1-5 Big Ten) after suffering several key injuries and failing to score in the second half. The loss, UW’s third of the season, will likely end the Huskies’ hopes of an extended postseason.
“Not a good day for the Huskies,” head coach Jedd Fisch said postgame.
Washington’s chances at a Big Ten title were already unlikely. The nation’s top two teams -- No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana -- are both undefeated Big Ten schools, who could likely lose a game and still earn a conference-title berth. They’ve seemed destined to meet in Indianapolis since Indiana defeated No. 3 Oregon back in Week 7, and they have just combined five games left on their regular season schedules.
The Huskies were going to need a lot of Big Ten losses to go their way, but they still had a chance of sneaking into Lucas Oil Stadium as a two-loss team.
Their odds were much better in the 12-team College Football Playoff race. Last year’s inaugural bracket included four teams (Indiana, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Ohio State) who did not qualify for their respective conference championships. Two of those teams were from the Big Ten and two entered with two losses, meaning Washington’s hopes of reaching the CFP were alive and well.
However, this three-loss Huskies team is now essentially doomed on both the conference and national fronts. There’s a coterie of one-loss Big Ten teams (No. 9 Oregon, No. 19 USC, No. 21 Michigan) waiting for Ohio State and Indiana to slip up, all of whom will also be ahead of the Huskies in the playoff race.
There are plenty more contenders in the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 conferences who’ve also got a lead on UW. There simply won’t be enough losses there to elevate a three-loss team into the playoffs, especially not a team with a loss to a sputtering 2-6 opponent.
Though their title hopes are dashed, the 6-3 Dawgs are still bowl-eligible. Six wins is almost certainly going to be enough to earn them a spot in one of the 35 non-playoff bowl games being held this year, but a seventh win would unofficially lock down a berth.
The Huskies will get their next chance at that seventh win on Saturday, Nov. 15, when conference afterthoughts Purdue (2-8, 0-7 Big Ten) come to town. That game will kick off from Husky Stadium at 4:00 p.m. PST on FS1.