The Washington Huskies' dominant 48-14 victory over the UCLA Bruins wasn't their only big win this past weekend.
Two Big Ten foes, one of them being UW's most bitter rival, came away with important wins that will improve Washington's resume now, and potentially in the future. The No. 7 Oregon Ducks took down the No. 15 USC Trojans 42-27, and the Wisconsin Badgers defeated No. 21 Illinois 27-10.
Starting with the Wisconsin win, the effect it has on Washington's outlook is two-fold. First, it makes the Huskies' own loss to the Badgers look better -- even if it's still embarrassing and remains one they'd desperately want back.
Simply put, the improvement of Wisconsin's resume in turn improves Washington's. The Badgers earned a second ranked win of the season, this time in more definitive fashion, and have improved to 4-7 with a chance to make it 5-7 this weekend against Minnesota. It's certainly not a record worth writing home about, but it's definitely a better result than a winless conference schedule like we once thought.
Additionally, Illinois being at the losing end of the matchup is huge for the Huskies. The Illini joined Week 12's College Football Playoff rankings at the No. 21 spot -- a signal from the selection committee that they were the sixth-best team in the Big Ten behind Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon, USC, and Michigan.
Of course, Washington beat Illinois a few weeks earlier and shared the same 7-3 record going into last week's games, which showed just how badly the committee thought of the Huskies' loss to Wisconsin. Now that they've both lost to Wisconsin, the Huskies have surely climbed the Big Ten ladder with a better record and head-to-head win over Illinois.
That means there's a real chance Washington will rejoin the CFP rankings come the reveal tomorrow night, especially with No. 22 Missouri and No. 23 Houston also losing this past weekend. Sure, a ranking in the back of CFP's top-25 might not mean much considering UW's chances of actually making the playoff is a huge longshot, but it's still a recognition that's better to have than not.
At the end of the day, the rankings reveal tomorrow won't mean anything with Oregon coming into town on Saturday. If the Huskies win that rivalry game, they'll finished the season ranked. If they lose, they won't -- it's that simple.
That's why it's also a good thing for the Huskies that Oregon beat USC on Saturday. You're going to want to beat the Ducks no matter the circumstance, and a potential win against them will be much sweeter when they are as highly-touted as they possibly can be -- both in terms of bragging rights and in the judgmental eyes of the college football world.
Oregon improved to 10-1 with the win over USC and should easily stay in the top-7 of the CFP rankings, in prime position to make the playoffs. If the Ducks had lost to USC instead, they would've likely dropped out of the top-10 and be in a position where they may not make the playoffs, win or lose against Washington. Fans on both sides should want the highest stakes possible for this rivalry game.
Of course, USC losing to Oregon also benefitted Washington. With the Huskies becoming the clear sixth-best team in the conference due to Illinois' loss, there's now a clear path to jumping the line again ahead of USC. Both the Trojans and Huskies have an 8-3 record, although USC is still technically ahead of UW because one of its losses was in a non-conference game against Notre Dame.
But again, the upcoming Oregon game can change everything. If the Huskies can beat the Ducks, they leapfrog both USC and Oregon to become the clear No. 4, maybe even No. 3 team, in the conference depending on what Michigan does against No. 1 Ohio State.
For a season that once felt lost after the Dawgs fell to the Badgers in Madison, this last week of the regular season brings a great opportunity for Washington to cement it's place in the college football landscape.