Well, Washington is a few years removed from the glory days under Kalen DeBoer and Kalen DeBoer is a few thousand miles removed from Seattle now that he's absconded to Tuscaloosa. But Jedd Fisch righted the ship last year to a respectable season, which we recapped in the link below.
Now, what does 2026 look like for the AWOOOHUSKIES?
Off Tackle Republic
Schedule
Predictions
Biff: The biggest question of 2026 to me is whether Washington is able to chip away at their road woes this season as I think that's probably the difference between a Good or Great season for the Huskies. All of the "easy" home games are out of the way by October with a very manageable non-con, followed by Minnesota which might have a shot at Huntington Bank Stadium but doesn't in Seattle. Then comes the challenges: a night game against Iowa, a Penn State team that seems likely to be improved over 2025, and Indiana to end the home slate.
Dropping at 2 of those 3 home games seems likely to me; Indiana aside, I think it's reasonable to expect either Penn State or more likely, Iowa, might steal a game at Husky Stadium. Which wouldn't be a problem if Washington didn't seem to struggle so badly on the road in the B1G. These are the games that make or break the season.
At USC to start the away schedule and at Oregon to end it are tough. In between it's Purdue, Nebraska, and Michigan State. All of these are teams that Washington should beat, but...if 2025 was an indicator, it won't be a cakewalk. Purdue won't be good but I think they'll be at least a little better in Barry Odom's 2nd season. Nebraska screams 7-5 to me but you can never count the Huskers out (or in) at home, and Michigan State is on the same trajectory as Purdue. These are 3 games Washington should win. But.
In the end I'm expecting another 8-4 effort from Washington. 4-0 going into the USC game, they drop 2 at home and 2 on the road. However, 6-6 or 10-2 are both there depending on whether Jedd Fisch can tame his demons. Which...it's Jedd.
Oh, one final prediction. I will be at the game vs. Minnesota in Seattle with 30ish of my closest Gopher friends. So I can predict with 100% certainty that I'll be having
Transient Buckeye: My first pass through the schedule came up with 8-4 (5-4), but it feels like there's more downward mobility than upward mobility there. There's no Ohio State or Michigan, but there's still quite a bit of unpleasantness in the Big Ten schedule. The Huskies should be able to sweep their nonconference games--the only non-con opponent that might have a pulse is Wazzou, but the Cougars stunk last year, and Washington gets them at home. I think they'll be 4-0 after hosting Minnesota to open Big Ten play, but shit gets real in a hurry after that. Over the last two months of the season, I have them beating Iowa, Purdue, Penn State, and Michigan State. But I think USC handles them in the Coliseum (I think USC's going to be very good this year, much as it pains me to say it). The trip to Lincoln on Halloween night could get scary. The Huskies finish their regular season with two legitimate national title contenders in Indiana and Oregon, and I think they lose both.
Why do I say that the 8-4 estimate is downwardly mobile? It's counting on them beating both Iowa and Penn State at home, and Iowa, at least, could certainly get them. If the Penn State game comes down to a contest of coaching acumen between Matt Campbell and Jedd Fisch, that only ends one way. They might be able to make up for a loss in one of those games by toppling the Cornhuskers in Lincoln. But they'd still have to beat Purdue and Michigan State on the road, and if Washington could lose to last year's Wisconsin team, they're certainly capable of dick-tripping against a Big Ten bottom-feeder this year.
Kind of...: I'm higher on Washington, I guess. Yeah, they struggle on the road, but Iowa is traditionally dogshit on the West Coast. Say they lose @USC. Okay. Still, they enter the game in Lincoln sitting at 6-1. It's that three game stretch--@Nebraska, vs. Penn State, @Michigan State--that will define their season.
They don't seem to have the top end talent to make the CFP, but every one of their first ten games is winnable. That said, I am seeing an 8-4/5-4 campaign, so I guess I'm not higher on them after all. Good, not great, team.
HoustonBoiler: Plenty of digital ink has already been spilled so I will gloss over the obvious. Washington will get off to a 4-0 start, but then there's a step up in competition. Consecutive games at USC and against Iowa will reveal what kind of team Washington has. Win both and they could be great. Lose both and they could be mediocre. For the sake of argument, I will go with a split leaving the Huskies at 5-1 after the first half of the season.
The next four games are all winnable, but also offer some dick trip opportunities due to three games being on the road and Penn State at home. Washington was not great on the road last season, so I think they will drop one, most likely in Lincoln while winning the remaining two and beat Penn State in Seattle. I expect Washington to lose the final two to Indiana at home and Oregon on the road.
Overall, I expect Washington to be good to very good, but not great team, finishing at 8-4 overall and 5-4 in conference. I agree with @Biff that the range of possibilities is 6-6 (mediocre) to 10-2 (great).
WSR: I think the most important thing to remember is that Washington is coached by Jedd Fisch, who is far and away the worst coordinator I have ever seen in my life, and impacts my bias almost as much as Minnesota appearing on the schedule. The team will be pretty good, but I think you can start with at least 4 losses (USC, Iowa, Indiana, Oregon), 5 wins, and then a pair of coin flips with Minnesota and Nebraska. 6-6 feels weirdly right.
