Washington has a lot of questions to answer with transition to Big Ten

It’s never too early for a “way too early” Big Ten power ranking! Things will change. Players will hurt the portal, players will transfer in, injuries will happen but for the most part, we have a pretty good understanding of rosters after National Signing Day and so much transfer portal movement.

In each part of this series, we will unveil where each of the 18 teams in the new look conference begins. We started at No. 1 with the revamped Ohio State Buckeyes. Then, the Oregon Ducks come in at the second spot. Coming in at No. 3 were the defending National Champion Michigan Wolverines, who are in a bit of a transition period.

At No. 4, we unveiled the Penn State Nittany Lions, who are returning a lot of talent from their 2023 roster. Then we made way for the old reliable, the Iowa Hawkeyes. At No. 6, another new addition to the conference, the USC Trojans. Next up at No. 7, the Wisconsin Badgers came in, followed by the Washington Huskies at No. 8 in the ranking.

It wasn’t the best time for a program transition for the Huskies while making their move over to the Big Ten. With Kalen DeBoer taking over as head coach at the University of Alabama, there was a huge roster turnover at Washington. The roster was already set to have several defections due to the 2024 NFL Draft but they were also hit with several transfer portal defections with the coaching change.

The Huskies did rebound pretty nicely when they hired former Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch, who was doing a great job with the Wildcats. Their offense will be led by several high-level transfers who will be counted upon heavily. That includes Jonah Coleman, who played for Coach Fisch while at Arizona. At quarterback, they will be led by former Mississippi State record-setter Will Rogers and former Cal All-Pac 12 pass catcher Jeremiah Hunter. There is talent but it will have to mesh quickly.

On defense, there are a lot of question marks. They will also be buoyed by transfers in cornerback Ephesians Prysock (Arizona), defensive end Isaiah Ward (Arizona), and defensive lineman Sebastian Valdez (Montana State). That side of the football will need to improve quickly.

Long term, Fisch should be able to help get the Huskies to a nice level. In the short term, there is a lot less certainty.

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