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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Expectations High For Fully Loaded UW Squad Huskies Ranked No. 4 In Ap Poll On Strength Of 16 Returning Starters

Bob Condotta Tacoma News Tribune

Now all the Washington Huskies have to do is win 12 straight games.

If they do that, the Huskies would seem a lock to win a second national college football championship this decade.

The Huskies were ranked No. 4 in the AP preseason college football poll released Saturday (see story and rankings, page C2), a perfect spot from which to make a run at the national title.

The ranking is the highest for the Huskies since they were ranked No. 1 late in the 1992 season.

Penn State is No. 1, followed by defending champion Florida and Florida State.

The Huskies were also ranked No. 3 in the coaches poll released Friday, behind No. 1 Florida and Penn State.

“With the coaches poll coming out earlier this week, you can look at these and see that we are in a pretty good position as far as the preseason poll goes,” said UW head coach Jim Lambright.

Often, the most frustrating aspect of making a national championship run is being ranked behind a team at the beginning of a season based solely on perception, then never being able to pass that team as long as it keeps winning.

But the Huskies would be able to take care of Penn State themselves in the Rose Bowl, if needed, and Florida State plays at Florida Nov. 22 assuring one or both of those teams a blemish. Florida also hosts No. 5 Tennessee on Sept. 20, while Florida State plays at No. 7 North Carolina on Nov. 1.

“These polls show that there is no clear-cut dominant team out there based on what people see in the preseason,” Lambright said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen nine different teams receive first-place votes.”

Of the top nine teams, however, only Washington wasn’t ranked in the top 10 at the end of last season, meaning observers apparently feel the Huskies will better last year’s 9-3 overall record.

“Obviously there are some expectations that this can be an improved team,” Lambright said.

The Huskies, who return 16 starters from last season’s team, including five players who received All-Pac-10 honors, set about improving when they begin practice on Wednesday in preparation for the Sept. 6 opener at No. 19 Brigham Young.

Lambright has said repeatedly that he won’t try to shy away from national championship talk, saying that is what the Huskies should be shooting toward.

“I know our players have talked about the polls and they are excited to see the team so highly regarded,” Lambright said. “But I think they have it all in perspective. They know that none of this means too much if you don’t go out there and perform.”

Obviously, a loss against BYU or Nebraska and Washington’s national title hopes would likely be over. But voters probably took into consideration that the Huskies throttled BYU last year and host a Nebraska team that isn’t expected to be as strong.