With four games remaining in the 2025 season, the Washington Huskies have not been eliminated from College Football Playoff contention.
They are not in the thick of the race, nor are the odds in their favor. They aren’t even ranked this week. Yet at 6-2, and with three winnable games preceding a final prove-it opportunity on Thanksgiving weekend, the path to a CFP bid is visible enough that we may at least speculate about it.
That’s not the worst place to be, after Washington needed 11 games last season just to achieve bowl eligibility.
No matter your opinion of how major-college football determines its champion, it is a fact that the 12-team playoff gives hope to a greater number of programs heading into the final month of the season. Consider the Big Ten, where Washington is one of eight teams still playing for a bid, however murky the picture might be for at least five of them.
The Huskies are off this weekend, ahead of what should be a fascinating stretch run across the league. Here’s a look at where the Big Ten playoff picture stands at present, and how Washington fits into it.
Let’s go contender by contender, followed by some final thoughts: