Huskies Are Gearing Up For Holiday Bowl Game

The Huskies are hot.

So hot, in fact after a 53-10 victory Saturday over San Jose State, that a trip to frigid Pullman on Saturday probably will not affect the University of Washington’s bowl plans. Of course, those are plans the Huskies can’t make until Dec. 7.

While they appear most likely headed for San Diego’s Holiday Bowl, the Cotton Bowl continues to agonize over their availability, and even the Fiesta Bowl won’t rule out the possibility of inviting them to prime time on Jan. 1.

That’s what happens when a team climbs near the Top 10 picture, as the Huskies (8-2) did Sunday, climbing to 12th in the AP poll.

“People might term it a longshot, but that’s OK,” Fiesta Bowl executive director John Junker said. “But we would be foolish not to consider a team that has played so well recently and is ranked so high. The Huskies are in position to keep rising if some things happen.”

Still, way too many things would have to happen for the Huskies to get to the Fiesta Bowl, with Notre Dame, Penn State, BYU, Tennessee, and even Northwestern still ahead of them in the pecking order for an $8.4-million payday.

But as Junker said, “so many things have happened in the last couple of weeks, why would we think those kinds of things won’t continue to happen?”

Five Top 10 teams have lost in the past two weeks.