Washington football rated 15th in annual preseason power ratings

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

The Washington Huskies will be one of the 15 best programs in the nation, according to a recent power rating.

Phil Steele, author of arguably the most popular college football preview magazine, Phil Steele's College Football Preview, has the Huskies ranked at No. 15 in his preseason power poll, a data-driven ranking Steele compiles to track teams. That's ten spots higher than Steele personally ranked Washington, as the analyst had the Huskies at No. 25 in his preseason top 40 rankings.

Jedd Fisch's program is ranked sixth in the Big Ten by the metric, a testament to how strong the conference has been since the Huskies arrived in 2024 alongside Oregon (No. 2 nationally, No. 1 in the Big Ten), USC (No. 10 nationally, No. 4 in the Big Ten), and UCLA (No. 30 nationally, No. 10 in the Big Ten). The last three national champions – Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana – have all come from the Big Ten and are ranked ahead of Washington in the power poll, clocking in at No. 14, No. 4, and No. 6, respectively.

Notre Dame is the top-rated team, matching Steele's personal rankings. They are followed by Oregon, Georgia, Ohio State, Texas, Indiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Miami, USC, Alabama, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Michigan before Washington rounds out the top 15.

The Huskies have Steele's 35th-ranked special teams unit, 23rd-ranked defensive back unit, 20th-ranked linebacker unit, 21st-ranked offensive line, 43rd-ranked wide receiver corps, and 18th-ranked quarterback room in the country, per his preview magazine. That tracks with where Washington knows their stars will be this season: quarterback Demond Williams Jr., linebackers Jacob Manu, Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, and Xe'ree Alexander, offensive linemen John Mills and Kodi Greene, cornerback Dylan Robinson, safety Alex McLaughlin, and wide receiver Dezmen Roebuck. But Washington's ability to make good on a ranking of No. 15, which would put the Huskies on the College Football Playoff bubble, will rely on their weaker units taking a step forward and keeping the squad afloat.

Washington opens fall camp in early August with plenty of questions to answer, but there is plenty of optimism to be found now that Fisch has had some time to mold the program in his image. The Huskies, at least on paper, are growing increasingly unable to argue that talent will be the thing that holds them back on the gridiron.

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington football rated 15th in annual preseason power ratings

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos