Huskies' Ranking in Preseason Big Ten Media Poll Seems Low

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Jul 21, 2025 11:53 AM ET

Almost everyone agrees the University of Washington football team, following a sub-.500 finish in 2024 as a first-time Big Ten member, will be better this coming season.

However, the preseason media poll for the conference and released over the weekend by cleveland.com shows the Huskies in 10th place -- this after they finished (6-7 overall, 4-5 league) tied for ninth in the final standings with USC (7-6, 4-5) and Rutgers (7-6, 4-5) in 2024.

Oh well, Jedd Fisch's team will have 12 games beginning at the end of next month to show that the UW might be a little underrated or misunderstood.

.@clevelanddotcom Big Ten preseason media poll

1-Penn St (11 1st place votes)
2-Ohio St (10)
3-Oregon (2)
4-Illinois
5-Michigan (1)
6-Indiana
7-Iowa
8-Nebraska
9-USC
10-Washington
11-Minnesota
12-Wisconsin
13-Mich St
(tie) Rutgers
15-UCLA
16-Maryland
17-Northwestern
18-Purdue
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 21, 2025

For now, the first five teams are projected to be Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Illinois and Michigan -- with the Huskies playing all of them except the Nittany Lions this year and three of them at home, where they hold a 20-game win streak.

The next four in the polls's top 10 are Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska and USC, and the UW plays none of them this fall.

The Huskies will move up in the standings only if they can show they've improved their offensive and defensive lines in a significant manner over last season, where the better Big Ten teams physically had their way with Fisch's guys at times.

Everything for the coming UW season in terms of image could hinge on a Sept. 27 game against Ohio State, the defending national champs, at Husky Stadium. The Huskies haven't beaten the Buckeyes in 31 years.

Win that one, and anything goes for the Huskies this season, with 10th place becoming something mabye to joke about later.

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This article first appeared on Washington Huskies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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