Under first year head coach Mike Hopkins, the Washington Huskies sit at 14-6 on the season and have so far exceeded all expectations outside of their own.
After a 9-22 season, long time head coach Lorenzo Romar was let go and expectations this season under coach Hopkins weren’t very high entering the season. Markelle Fultz declared for the draft and all of Romar’s highly touted 2017 recruiting class minus Jaylen Nowell, asked out of their national letters of intent after Romar was let go. The Huskies were picked to finish tenth this season in the Pac-12 by the media.
Through 20 games UW is right on the bubble of making the NCAA Tournament. According to Joe Lunardi of ESPN, he has Washington as one the first four teams out of the NCAA tournament. Jerry Palm of CBS has Washington as one of the last four in his NCAA tournament bracket.
In reality these projections mean absolutely nothing this early in the season. The Huskies still have 11 conference games and the Pac-12 tournament to bolster or end their tournament chances.
In saying that here is a look at UW’s win and losses with current RPI rankings of each opponent.
Wins Losses
Belmont (80) Providence (38)
Eastern Washington (192) Virginia Tech (105)
Seattle University (198) Gonzaga (56)
UC Davis (71) UCLA (64)
Kennesaw State (314) Stanford (85)
Omaha (227) Utah (61)
Kansas (7)
Loyola Marymount (253)
Bethune-Cookman (275)
Montana (110)
@ USC (39)
@ Washington State (157)
California (177)
@Colorado (59)
Washington’s key wins this season include a neutral court win over Kansas, a road win at USC, and a road win at Colorado. The Huskies’ bad losses are probably a home loss to Stanford and a neutral court loss to Virginia Tech. UW currently has a solid RPI of 52.
UW’s remaining schedule with RPI rankings
1/28 vs Washington State (157)
2/1 vs #21 Arizona State (31)
2/3 vs #11 Arizona (16)
2/8 @ Oregon (92)
2/10 @ Oregon State (155)
2/15 vs Utah (61)
2/17 vs Colorado (59)
2/22 @ Stanford (85)
2/24 @ California (177)
3/1 vs Oregon State (155)
3/3 vs Oregon (92)
Looking ahead
Washington has put themselves in a position where they can get into the tournament with a strong finish. It will not be easy however, with very limited opportunities to pick up a quality win with the Pac-12 being down this year. Washington will have a key opportunity in two weeks when they host #21 Arizona State and #11 Arizona to pick up a resume booster. But UW will also have to avoid a bad loss down the stretch which won’t be easy.
In a way the Huskies are playing with house money down the stretch. An NIT berth would be a good result considering where this team was supposed to finish. A trip to the NCAA tournament would be unbelievable. For now, the Huskies need to just take it one game at a time.
