There’s a Big Ten program that played for the national title as recently as the 2023 season. But the very next year, it fell apart, going 6-7 and missing a bowl game entirely. Even last season, when things improved to 9-4, this team was still nowhere close to the Playoff picture it had been a part of just two years earlier. By most measures, this is a program still trying to find its way back.

That program is the Washington Huskies. And according to ESPN‘s Greg McElroy, it’s closer to getting back than most people realize.

McElroy named the Huskies one of his picks to make the College Football Playoff in 2026, pointing to a team that quietly improved last season. “Now, they [Washington Huskies] quietly put together a really nice season last year. I mean, they finished in the top 20 on both sides of the ball. Only five of the programs in the country can claim that,” McElroy shared in a video shared by Always College Football on X.

Other than their improved performance in the last season, according to McElroy, there is one player who can be the sole reason for their probable success. “This could be a guy that plays his way into the Heisman conversation,” McElroy said, talking about Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr.

As a first-year starter in 2025, Demond threw for 3,065 yards and 25 touchdowns while completing nearly 69.5% of his passes. He also ran for 611 yards, the most by a Big Ten quarterback since Adrian Martinez back in 2019.

Williams returns as a full-time starter for the first time; four offensive line starters are back, and the receiver room is older and more experienced. On defense, Washington brought back a veteran back seven led by Alex McLaughlin. In a league built around experience and depth, Washington has both.

The one real question mark is up front on defense, where Washington has to replace multiple pieces on the line. That’s nothing in the Big Ten, where physical, veteran fronts tend to decide close games. McElroy flagged it directly, and it’s fair to see it as the one part of this roster that hasn’t been tested yet.

There’s also the schedule to consider, and this is where the pick gets more interesting, not less. Washington avoids both Ohio State and Michigan this season. Indiana and Penn State come to Seattle instead of the other way around. The tough road trips are at USC and at Oregon, along with a tricky trip to Michigan State. That’s a schedule that gives Williams a real runway to build a case, rather than one that puts him in front of the toughest competition the conference has to offer every single week.

LB coach Brian Odom Praises The Current Huskies Program

McElroy’s pick is about the roster on paper. But there’s a quieter storyline building around Washington that says just as much: how the program is holding onto its own talent.

Linebackers coach Brian Odom, entering his second season in Seattle after Jedd Fisch and defensive coordinator Ryan Walters hired him away from North Texas, has helped build a linebacker room that returns nearly everyone: Jacob Manu, Xe’ree Alexander, Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, and Buddah Al-Uqdah.

Of those, Rainey-Sale’s return stood out the most. He was coming off a strong 2025 season and finished as bowl game MVP, the kind of year that usually gets a player looking elsewhere for a bigger role or a bigger payday. Instead, he stayed.

And with the kind of talent the roster has, Odom did not hold himself back while praising the current program.

“This is the greatest program I’ve been a part of. It’s awesome,” Odom told reporters, reflecting on a 22-year coaching career that has included stops at Missouri, Arizona, Oklahoma, and USC.

Fisch has been clear that he wants Washington built through high school recruiting rather than the transfer portal.

That’s a harder path in today’s game, and the numbers show it: Washington lost more players this offseason to the NFL draft, graduation, and the transfer portal, compared to incoming high schoolers. Retaining a player like Rainey-Sale in that environment was a big thing.

This will shape whether they will have the depth to survive a long season.

With proven stars and rising young talent, the Huskies will enter 2026 as one of the paper favorites to reach the College Football Playoff.