Washington football just misses top 15 of ESPN's preseason rankings

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As the 2026 college football season continues to draw closer, the Washington Huskies are continuing to pick up steam ahead of Jedd Fisch's third season at the helm.

On Sunday, ESPN released its preseason top 25 and placed the Huskies as the No. 16 team in the country, making them the de facto No. 6 team in the Big Ten behind No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Oregon, No. 6 Indiana, No. 13 Michigan, and No. 14 Penn State, and just ahead of No. 19 Iowa and No. 22 USC.

As the Huskies look to take another step forward in the conference, the Huskies will have several opportunities to send a message in big games. They're slated to host the Hawkeyes, Hoosiers, and Nittany Lions, while they'll hit the road to take on the Ducks and Trojans in an attempt to improve on a 9-4 2025 campaign, including a win in the LA Bowl.

ESPN's ranking is also significant, as it's the second-highest that the Huskies have been placed in a preseason ranking so far in the offseason, only behind The Athletic's Stewart Mandel, who had Washington one spot higher at No. 15 in his June rankings.

However, even as the Huskies continue to gain some more recognition, Fisch's team isn't buying into any sort of rankings.

"I try to stay away from that," sophomore offensive lineman John Mills said of preseason rankings. "It's fine; they'll learn. I just, I don't really care about the preseason (rankings). It's preseason for a reason, and I think that these 12 games are hopefully 16 or 15 or whatever; they'll find out."

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington football just misses top 15 of ESPN's preseason rankings

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