SEATTLE — Four.
Finally.
After three consecutive weeks stashed at No. 5, Washington — which defeated No. 16 Oregon State 22-20 despite a driving rainstorm at Reser Stadium last Saturday — jumped Florida State to assume the No. 4 spot in the updated College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday.
The five remaining undefeated Power Five programs were slotted as follows: No. 1 Georgia (11-0), No. 2 Ohio State (11-0), No. 3 Michigan (11-0), No. 4 UW (11-0) and No. 5 FSU (11-0).
The Huskies — who host 5-6 Washington State in the Apple Cup on Saturday — tout the nation’s No. 1 strength of record, which measures the chance an average top-25 team would match or exceed the Huskies’ record while playing an identical schedule.
UW has also downed three ranked teams — No. 6 Oregon (10-1), No. 15 Arizona (8-3) and No. 16 Oregon State (8-3). USC and Utah were both ranked when the Huskies beat them in back-to-back weeks this month as well.
FSU, by comparison, touts two ranked wins — a 45-24 victory over No. 14 LSU and a 31-24 overtime win over Clemson. The Seminoles lost standout quarterback Jordan Travis for the season due to injury during last weekend’s 58-13 victory over 3-8 FCS North Alabama.
When asked Monday if he expected his Huskies to jump FSU, UW coach Kalen DeBoer said: “That’s for [the CFP selection committee] to determine, but I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, and I think what we’ve accomplished is strong.
“You can’t lose sight of what the conference was before the season started — the quarterback play that exists. You can’t forget about what the conference record is against other Power Five teams and our placement there. And we’re playing all the best teams. It’s not like we’re not playing some of the top [Pac-12] teams like maybe it was even a year ago. I’m just really proud; that’s the thing I’ll say over and over again. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished up to this point. I’ll say it again: job’s not done.”
