AP Top 25: Huskies rise to No. 4, Cougars still on outside looking in
Oct 23, 2016, 11:24 AM | Updated: 3:06 pm
The Huskies football team scooted up to No. 4 in the AP Top-25 standings released Sunday. (AP)
(AP)
Thanks to a surprise in the Big Ten, the Washington Huskies have slipped into the top four of the Associated Press’ Top 25 poll.
The Huskies (7-0 overall) scooted up one spot, to No. 4, after another dominating win Saturday mixed with Penn State’s shocking 24-21 upset over then-No. 2 Ohio State. The Week 9 poll released Sunday also showed the streaking Washington State Cougars (5-2) on the verge of joining the Top-25 fray after topping Arizona State 37-32 on Saturday night.
The Huskies sit behind only Alabama, which handled previously undefeated Texas A&M, Michigan and Clemson. The Huskies’ 1,373 votes were just nine fewer than the Tigers’. As Brent Stecker reported, College GameDay announced it will broadcast UW’s matchup against No. 17 Utah live from Salt Lake City next week. It will be the first time ESPN’s staple Saturday morning show will be on location for a Huskies game since October of 2013 for a showdown in Seattle against Oregon.
After dropping the first two games of the season, WSU has won five straight and is tied with UW at 4-0 atop the Pac-12 North standings. The two teams meet in Pullman for the annual Apple Cup on Nov. 25.
Washington State’s 84 votes were the most of any team that missed the Top 25, trailing 25th-ranked Virginia Tech by 26 votes. WSU had received 39 votes in the previous week’s polling.
While the Huskies will play in a potential preview of the Pac-12 conference championship game preview against Utah (7-1, 4-1 Pac-12) next week, Wazzu will travel to Corvallis to meet Oregon State (2-5, 1-3) in a 7:45 p.m. Saturday game on 710 ESPN Seattle.
