Inside The Huskies

First 2023 Top 25 Football Ranking Unveiled — Yes, UW Is On It

The Huskies top six Pac-12 teams that draw mention.

Dan Raley

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College football analysts and pundits generally wait until the day following the national championship game to begin sizing up next season.

However, Brett McMurphy of Action Network couldn't hold off and he's the first to come out with a Top 25 ranking for the 2023 campaign, which should generate a lot of attention for a University of Washington football fan base watching a program resurgence unfold under coach Kalen DeBoer.

McMurphy pegged the Huskies eighth in his first stab at ranking everyone for the coming season, one slot behind Rose Bowl champion Penn State and a notch above Clemson. 

Coming off an 11-2 record capped by an Alamo Bowl victory over Texas, the UW likely will finish in a similar position next week in the final Associated Press Top 25 that comes out shortly after the CFP is complete.

For the Huskies, any Top 10 mention has to be encouraging, considering this was a 4-8 team just 12 months ago. 

DeBoer has turned it around far quicker and greater than anyone envisioned and there's no reason to think this success won't continue.

Providing wide receiver Rome Odunze returns, the UW will welcome back 14 of its 22 starters, foremost quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who led the nation in passing this past season with 4,641 yards.

Six Pac-12 teams, in the league's final season that includes the Los Angeles schools, are on McMurphy's listing, with Oregon 10th, Oregon State 13th, USC 15th, Utah 16th and UCLA 24th.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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