Huskies Earn Top 25 Ranking in Coaches' Preseason Poll

The UW is one of three Pac-12 teams to earn a spot in this select company of college football entries.

Dan Raley | Aug 11, 2021

Huskies Earn Top 25 Ranking in Coaches' Preseason Poll /

The University of Washington football team turns up 21st in the USA Today preseason coaches poll and, whether or not they agree with this, Husky fans learned long ago not to question this ranking and the men behind it.

After all, it was 30 years ago when the coaches voted for the UW as college football's national champion while the Associated Press poll, compiled from media member ballot, chose Miami.

With the season roughly three weeks away, 65 coaches selected Alabama No. 1 and the usual suspects through the first seven teams before choosing unlikely Iowa State, North Carolina and Cincinnati to fill out the top 10.

The Huskies, who have appeared in nearly every top 25 poll since the end of last season, came in two slots lower lower than Texas, which is now coached by former UW and USC leader Steve Sarkisian.

JImmy Lake's team ranks just ahead of Oklahoma State, Louisiana, Coastal Carolina and Lane Kiffin's Mississippi Rebels.

The Huskies are one of three Pac-12 entries in the coaches' poll, trailing No. 12 Oregon and No. 14 USC. Other conference teams receiving votes were Utah, which was the first team outside of the top 25; Arizona State, the third-highest vote-getter among the also-rans; and UCLA, Stanford and California.

Full Preseason Coaches Poll

1. Alabama

2. Clemson

3. Oklahoma

4. Ohio State

5. Georgia

6. Texas A&M

7. Notre Dame

8. Iowa State

9. North Carolina

10. Cincinnati

11. Florida

12. Oregon

13. LSU

14. USC

15. Wisconsin

16. Miami

17. Indiana

18. Iowa

19. Texas

20. Penn State

21. Washington

22. Oklahoma State

23. Louisiana

24. Coastal Carolina

25. Ole Miss

Others receiving votes: Utah 145; Northwestern 120; Arizona State 90; Auburn 84; Liberty 68; Brigham Young 53; Texas Christian 48; Michigan 30; Central Florida 29; NC State 27; Boise State 27; Kentucky 20; San Jose State 18; Army 13; Virginia Tech 9; Missouri 8; UCLA 7; Tulsa 6; Pittsburgh 6; Boston College 6; Houston 5; Ball State 5; West Virginia 4; Southern Methodist 4; Appalachian State 4; UAB 3; Arkansas 3; Nevada 2; Mississippi State 2; Air Force 2; Stanford 1; Marshall 1; Florida State 1; California 1.

Published Aug 11, 2021

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.