Washington’s AP Poll frustration continues after ranked win over Illinois

After defeating No. 23-ranked Illinois on Saturday afternoon, many expected the Washington Huskies to finally be ranked in the AP Poll's top-25 teams when the rankings dropped the following morning. Even the Big Ten Network's Jake Butt, who was the color commentator for Washington-Illinois, called upon the AP voters to rank Washington following the game.

Instead, the Huskies will again be unranked going into Week 10, as voters snubbed them in favor of programs like No. 25 Memphis, No. 24 Utah, and No. 23 USC. Washington received 46 votes total, which were the third most among unranked teams -- behind the AAC's Navy (7-0, 86 votes) and Tulane (6-1, 59 votes). This puts the Huskies as the 28th-ranked squad in the nation, despite having comparable resumes to some of the top teams in the poll.

With the win over Illinois, Washington improved to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten, with its only losses to current No. 1 Ohio State and No. 21 Michigan on the road. According to ESPN's FPI, Washington now has the 20th-best strength of record in the nation, ahead of ranked programs like No. 17 Cincinnati, and the aforementioned USC, Missouri, and Memphis.

The belief that Washington should be ranked isn't one just held by Huskies fans -- college football analysts and fans of competing programs also believe it. Even some rival Oregon fans think the Huskies deserve a spot in the top-25.

However, worrying about whether or not the Huskies should be ranked is somewhat irrelevant at this point in the season. What matters is most is that they take care of business in their next three games against Wisconsin, Purdue, and UCLA leading up to the ultimate showdown with Oregon in the final game of the regular season.

Washington has a bye this week, but should be heavily favored to win those three games to be 9-2 before welcoming the Ducks to Husky Stadium on Nov. 29. If things fall that way, then the Huskies will surely be ranked by then, with that matchup potentially having playoff implications.

There's even a chance that the Dawgs sneak into the top-25 after this week despite not playing a game. No. 20 Texas will have a tough matchup with No. 9 Vanderbilt, No. 18 Oklahoma will have one against No. 14 Tennessee, and No. 24 Utah plays against No. 17 Cincinnati -- meaning there's potentially three spots in the poll that could open up depending on who loses those contests.

X account @WestCoastCFB pointed out that Washington's current situation is very similar to to its 2022 season -- a major building-block year that led to 2023's national championship appearance.

With that in mind, it's important to stay optimistic and focus on the bigger picture, instead of on a Week 10 snub that will be forgotten about by season's end if everything goes right. The Huskies are already bowl-eligible and are taking a big leap in Jedd Fisch's second year as coach. Time to block out the noise and use being unranked to take on an underdog mentality as a rallying cry for the rest of the season.