Rankings of 133 college football teams after Week 12: Washington deserves more respect

It’s time to return some respect to Washington’s name.

The Huskies are undefeated and have the best win in the country, according to these rankings, but have continually stayed outside the top four of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee’s season rankings. That should change this week. After posting a 22-20 victory against Oregon State on a rainy night in Corvallis, Washington has the most impressive resume in the country. The Huskies move up to the No. 2 spot in this week’s Athletic 133.

Washington has beaten Oregon, Arizona, Utah, Oregon State and USC. No one can match so many good victories. Yes, the Huskies needed a pick six and a questionable penalty to escape Arizona State and they played Stanford close, but no team beats everyone every week.

Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. struggled at times against the Beaver defense, completing 13 of 28 passes, but was responsible for all three touchdowns in a difficult environment, and came up with a key third-down completion against Rome Odunze to seal the game. which Washington entered as a loser in the bets.

Georgia still looks like the best team in the country and gets better every week, but everyone else looks beatable, including Washington. Maybe Oregon will be the favorite if the Ducks and Huskies meet again in the Pac-12 championship game, but that’s for another time. Right now, Washington deserves not only to be in the top four, but also above fourth place.

Here you have this week’s Athletic 133.

1-10

Aside from Washington’s rise, the only change in the top 10 is Missouri’s rise after beating Florida to move to 9-2.

We have never seen a season in the CFP era with five Power 5 teams going 11-0. In theory, the situation could easily resolve itself, with Georgia, Washington, Florida State and the winner of Michigan/Ohio State in the top four. But Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis’ devastating leg injury could alter that possibility and create some difficult CFP conversations about the ‘Noles. They will play Louisville in the ACC championship game, which could be a top-10 matchup.

11-25

Penn State’s wins over Iowa and West Virginia look better as the season progresses, and the Nittany Lions rise to No. 12 behind Ole Miss due to the Rebels’ wins against LSU and Tulane. Oklahoma drops to 14th after escaping BYU. Oregon State drops to 16th after its loss, falling just behind Arizona, which demolished Utah 42-18 and beat the Beavers in October. James Madison’s unbeaten streak is over, but the Dukes don’t drop out of the top 25 because it was an overtime loss and JMU still has a good win against Troy. JMU’s full bowl eligibility waiver was denied, so No. 20 Tulane is in pole position for the New Year’s Six spot, but the Green Wave played UTSA this week before a potential bowl game. AAC championship where they got to see No. 26 SMU, which just won in Memphis.

Toledo is 10-1 and also in that NY6 mix after a late win against Bowling Green; the Rockets also ranked in the top 25. The fact that Iowa came in at No. 16 in last week’s CFP rankings was surprising, especially since it was unranked in the AP poll. They are number 24 here this week. The Hawkeyes do not have a win over a team with more than six wins and were defeated by Penn State. Their defense is elite, but Iowa has slipped away from several .500 Big Ten West teams in recent weeks. They are ahead of Toledo because the Rockets lost to Illinois in Week 1 and Iowa beat the Illini.

26-50

Clemson moves up to 30th after beating North Carolina. UNLV is ranked 32nd after coming back to beat Air Force. UCLA’s comfortable win over USC moves the Bruins to No. 34 and USC to No. 35. I still have no idea why Tennessee, No. 33 here, is ranked in the polls.

Miami’s one-score loss to Louisville sees the Hurricanes only slide to 38th place and remain ahead of Texas A&M due to their head-to-head result. Duke continues to slide, now down to No. 40 after a loss to Virginia. Wyoming rebounds to No. 43, helped by its early-season win against Texas Tech, which beat UCF to become bowl eligible.

New Mexico State’s 31-10 win at Auburn to move to 9-3 moves the Aggies to No. 37. The Fightin’ Jerry Kills have won seven straight games, overcoming early losses to UMass and Hawaii that make them a strange equipment. place.

51-75

Kentucky and Florida drop out of the top 50 after losses to South Carolina and Missouri, respectively. Georgia Tech is at No. 54 after beating Syracuse to become bowl eligible. Maryland only slides two spots to 55th after playing close to Michigan. Appalachian State’s overtime win at James Madison moves the Mountaineers up to 62nd place.

Wisconsin got back on track with an overtime win against Nebraska to move up to No. 66. Twelve teams in this group of 25 need a win this weekend to reach a bowl game.

76-100

In the Week 3 edition of these rankings, Colorado came in at No. 14 and Arkansas State came in last at No. 133. Now, they’re right next to each other. Colorado has lost six of seven, including a 56-14 blowout at the hands of Washington State on Friday night, to fall to No. 77. Arkansas State dropped 77 points on Texas State to become bowl eligible and move up to No. 78. . .

No. 83 Virginia and No. 84 Michigan State won’t be going to a bowl game, but they picked up conference wins over the weekend. Georgia Southern’s loss to Old Dominion and Georgia State’s loss to LSU drop the Sun Belt rivals to No. 85 and No. 86, respectively. It’s been a strange season for No. 89 Army, which won against UTSA, Air Force and Coastal Carolina, but lost to UMass and Louisiana-Monroe. The Black Knights are the most difficult team to qualify and only have Navy left.

101-133

Navy’s bounce-back season continues, now 5-5 and up to 107th place after beating East Carolina. New Mexico beat Fresno State and moves up to No. 111. Sam Houston continues to battle, leading Western Kentucky in the fourth quarter before losing. As a result, the Bearkats move up to No. 127. Kent State lost 34-3 to Ball State and remains at No. 133 as the only team with a win in FBS.

The Athletic 133 Rankings series is part of a partnership with AllState.

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