Huskies Beat Oregon – Top 25 In SI Preseason Rankings
Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde can now probably get a dining table anywhere from Blaine to Vancouver, Washington. From Peace Arch to the north bank of the Columbia River.
Not so much from Medford to Portland.
In selecting SI’s preseason top 25 teams, the lead writer did the unthinkable in landscaping the landscape.
He put the ducks behind the huskies.
Far behind Jimmy Lakes team.
He added more fuel to a college football fire in the northwest that burns 12 months of the year every year and has gone on with a rage for seven of its 12 decades.
While doing what everyone does to anoint Alabama No. 1, Forde was saving his creative skills for our little quadrant of the country.
He picked the # 12 Huskies, five places higher than their most fearsome rival – with Oregon ranking more frequently than not always higher over the past few decades.
Forde, long the most respected writer in college football, came to the UW’s assessment:
The schedule sets in gloriously for the Huskies bringing almost everyone of importance back from a 3-1 roster. You could get a disproportionate boost in credibility by winning Michigan on September 11th (big name, questionable ability) and then getting a manageable start to the Pac-12 game. The toughest opponent is Oregon, which is coming to Seattle. The chance for sophomore coach Jimmy Lake is if he has the right quarterback in Dylan Morris (that remains to be seen, although his job is to start the season). Washington has a winning record for 11 straight seasons. It has also achieved a plus sales margin for all of these seasons. These things are not accidental.
Keep in mind that the UW has only lost one game in the past 21 months, as evidenced by the video where linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio rates a 31:26 setback against Stanford – yes, that’s a bit of a stretch given the pandemic onslaught – but the fan base has been spared a lot of gloom.
The Huskies aren’t the best Pac-12 in Forde’s forecast, however. He saves that for USC and puts the Trojans in 9th place.
It should be noted that former UW coach Steve Sarkisian is expected to finish 23rd in Texas.
A surprising addition to this list is Nevada, which jumps in at number 25. Must be the transfer portal pick-up of the former husky wide receiver Marquis Spiker in the off-season.
The UW and the Ducks have just under three months to argue over who is better before clashing for the 113th time on Nov. 6 in one of the nation’s five transnational rivalries.
May Pat Forde will show up.
SI’s top 25 of the preseason
1. Alabama
2. State of Ohio
3. Georgia
4. Clemson
5. Oklahoma
6. Cincinnati
7. State of Iowa
8. Wisconsin
9. USC
10. Texas A&M
11. Notre-Dame
12. Washington
13. North Carolina
14. Indiana
15. Miami
16. Iowa
17. Oregon
18. Florida
19. Penn State
20. Carolina Coast
21. LSU
22. Louisiana
23. Texas
24. UCF
25. Nevada
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