Washington's Saturday morning loss to Michigan was a gut punch. Not only did the Huskies play poorly, but the defeat was costly to the team's hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff or Big Ten Championship game.
Now with a 5-2 record (2-2 Big Ten), Washington's only path to CFP contention would be to win all of the remaining games on its schedule. That would theoretically give the Dawgs a 10-2 record, which depending on how other dominoes fall, could be enough to be in that conversation.
But still, that's a long ways away -- the Huskies have a lot of issues they need to correct and need to take things day by day. However, it is still helpful to know that Saturday's loss wasn't the end of the world, even if it sort of felt like it.
This is especially true when you consider that UW is entering a favorable stretch in its final five games. As fall starts to settle in, the Dawgs will play three of those games in Husky Stadium, and will only have to travel across the country one more time. Here's the remaining schedule ranked by degree of difficulty -- from hardest to easiest.
1. Oregon - Nov. 29
Washington's toughest game remaining is also its most anticipated game in every given season -- a rivalry matchup against the Oregon Ducks. The Huskies finally fell to their enemies in Eugene last season after beating them three times in a row during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
This year's matchup will be played in Seattle, where the Huskies won a thriller the last time the rivalry was played on home turf. That will be a major advantage for Washington, making the hardest game left in the season feel far less intimidating. Another advantage for the Dawgs is that this will also be the last game of the season, meaning that they have hopefully already won their previous four games, giving them the highest stakes to play for with plenty of motivation.
But it won't be easy for a reason. Dan Lanning and the Ducks are once again a national powerhouse. Currently ranked No. 6 in the country, the margin of error for beating Oregon is among the slimmest in college football. The Ducks are a complete team -- with the ability to hang 50 points on the scoreboard with their offense, while also capable of holding opponents to single digits with their defense.
2. Illinois - Oct. 25
So, Washington's hardest game left is the last game of the season, and its second-hardest is the next game. The Huskies will play No. 23 Illinois this upcoming Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PT, an immediate chance to avenge their tough loss to Michigan and get back on track.
Fortunately for them, this game will also be played at home. The Dawgs are also currently 4.5-point favorites in this matchup, meaning that they will likely be favored to win the rest of the way until Oregon.
Illinois is a strong, battle-tested team, however. The Illini returned 16 starters from last season, the second most in the nation. They went 10-3 last season, and ranked as high as No. 9 in this season's AP Poll. Senior quarterback Luke Altmyer is experienced and steady, already with 1,821 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, just one interception, and a 72.4 completion percentage this year.
The Huskies will need to bring their A-game to win this one.
3. UCLA - Nov. 22
The Bruins started off the season 0-4, but rattled off three straight Big Ten wins after firing coach DeShaun Foster. UCLA is riding a huge wave of momentum and are starting to figure things out on both sides of the ball. The Huskies will travel to Pasadena to play UCLA on the road, which won't give the most-difficult circumstances for a road trip, but is still a road game nonetheless.
A plus for Washington is that even though UCLA is beginning to look scarier and scarier now, it has a gauntlet of games preceding Nov. 22's matchup -- Indiana on the road, then Nebraska, then Ohio State on the road. The Bruins can easily lose all three of those games to be 3-7 and out of bowl contention going into the Huskies matchup, giving them less motivation to play with.
4a/4b. Wisconsin - Nov. 8 and Purdue - Nov. 15
It's a toss-up when deciding which of these two games will be harder than the other, but the good thing is that both should be cakewalks for Washington. Wisconsin and Purdue are both 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten, the bottom-dwellers of the conference.
Purdue has looked slightly better than Wisconsin this season, but the Purdue matchup will be at home while the Wisconsin matchup will be on the road in Madison. Husky fans can pick their poison deciding which of those circumstances is more favorable.
Regardless of what you choose, these games being back to back and sandwiched in between the top-3 games ahead of them on this list offers the perfect chance for the Huskies to build some momentum and reach peak form going into the late season.