The University of Washington appears sixth on a a list of 10 teams supposedly facing the most pivotal seasons across college football this fall, as compiled by On3.
The immediate reaction was why?
While this could be construed as a show of respect for a program that played for a national championship just 15 months ago, it almost seems a little too soon to put real high expectations on a Jedd Fisch-coached UW team still in the midst of a serious rebuild.
The Huskies come off a 6-7 season with just 10 returning starters from their recent Sun Bowl appearance.
They have just 27 players on the roster, 20 on scholarship, who were part of that 2024 UW team that played against Michigan for all of the CFP marbles, which means three-quarters of the paid-for personnel turned over in a very short amount of time.
The Huskies have a young quarterback in Demond Williams Jr. who, while he might be overly promising, has just two starts to his name on the college level.
NEW: College Football Teams facing the most pivotal seasons in 2025 via @AriWasserman😳
Do you agree? 🤔https://t.co/TLmfwgw1NU pic.twitter.com/C1hIZr6XhG
— On3 (@On3sports) March 6, 2025
Unless Fisch turns into a magician in his second season in Montlake, the Huskies remain a ways off before they confidently can go toe to toe with everybody else in a manner the Michael Penix Jr. teams did to win 25 of 28 games in the brief but highly successful Kalen DeBoer era.
If you look at a bigger sample size, the UW actually has dealt with losing records in two of its past four seasons, going 6-7 under Fisch last year and 4-8 under Jimmy Lake in 2021.
As Fisch goes about restoring excellence, by having a $2 million weight room built and trying to develop his own players in Montlake, a modest expectation might be eight victories for the coming season, a two-win increase.
The schedule is easier than 2024, yet Michigan and Ohio State both appear on it this coming season.
On3 ranks these 10 pressure-cooker teams as follows: Oklahoma, Alabama, Miami, Michigan, LSU, Washington, Tennessee, Florida, Oregon and South Carolina.
Indiana, Mississippi, USC, Texas A&M and even North Carolina would seem like programs more under a microscope than the Huskies.
Curt Cignetti and Bill Belichick, in particular, will have everybody watching what they do at all times.
For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington
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