Joel Klatt Places Washington Football Inside Preseason Top 25 Poll

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The Washington Huskies are almost universally viewed as a top 25 team heading into the 2026 season.

As UW stands in the eyes of Fox Sports commentator Joel Klatt the Huskies enter the season ranked as the No. 20 team in the country and seventh among Big Ten schools.

Third-year coach Jedd Fisch and his program come in behind Oregon (No. 1), Ohio State (No. 3), Indiana (No. 5), Michigan (No. 10), USC (No. 12), Penn State (No. 17) on the ex-Colorado quarterback's preseason top 25 rankings.

Of the six schools ranked ahead of UW, four are on the schedule for Fisch. Two road games—at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum against the Trojans on October 3 and a trip to Autzen Stadium to end the regular season on November 28—and a pair of home games against first-year Nittany Lions' coach Matt Campbell on Nov. 7 and Curt Cignitti's defending national champion Indiana Hoosiers two weeks later each offer tough tests for the Huskies.

In addition, the No. 22 Iowa Hawkeyes, by Klatt, also visit Husky Stadium for a formidable Friday night matchup on October 9, a conference game that could tilt the pendulum for Fisch. Most preseason rankings have UW between No. 16 and No. 20, where the US LBM Coaches Poll has Fisch's team heading into the 2026 campaign.

With Washington returning over a dozen starters combined on both sides of the ball and an influx of transfer talent and a healthy fifth-year senior linebacker Jacob Manu, the preseason belief matches what the coaching staff has stated this month as fall camp has commenced.

Ultimately, the development and growth in both third-year quarterback Demond Williams Jr. and a new-ish cast of receivers and running backs at his disposal, will be the difference offensively. On defense, second-year coordinator Ryan Walters, has a mix of veteran starters and experienced transfers with a few first-year freshmen in the mix for what should be one of the better defenses in the Big Ten and potentially the country by the end of the season.

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Joel Klatt Places Washington Football Inside Preseason Top 25 Poll

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