CFP committee chair Boo Corrigan and the rest of the committee like the body of work Washington has put together. However, they did not like that overall resume enough to put the Huskies inside the top 4 Tuesday night.

When the first edition of the season’s CFP rankings was revealed, Washington was the first team out of the top 4 at No. 5 overall. Ohio State was the top team on the committee’s list followed by Georgia, Michigan and Florida State in the top 4. Oregon was the highest one-loss team at No. 6 overall.

After the rankings reveal, Corrigan and Executive Director Bill Hancock addressed the top groups of teams in a media teleconference. Hancock particularly outlined that the top 4 teams were in a clear group together and Washington was “a notch behind.”

Hancock pointed to the last two weeks as part of the reasoning:

“I can talk about that. It’s not appropriate, however, for us to talk about differences among teams and rankings,” said Hancock. “But I would say that the top four were in a group together. Washington because of their play in the last couple of weeks was a notch behind that group.”

As a follow-up, it was pointed out that the committee put Ohio State at No. 1 ahead of Michigan and Georgia because of the quality of wins for the Buckeyes. However, it was questioned why Florida State and Washington were slotted behind Michigan and Georgia with the type of quality wins that the Seminoles and Huskies have.

Corrigan pointed to the full body of work and admitted the win over Oregon was big but the close calls against Arizona State and Stanford gave the committee “some pause” to putting the Huskies in the top 4:

“With regards to Washington, huge win over Oregon, who we have at No. 6, but in looking at that, the game most recently, two most recent games at home against Arizona State and on the road at Stanford from a committee standpoint gave us some pause and put them in at No. 5,” Corrigan explained.

While Washington would have loved to be inside the top 4, there are plenty of opportunities for the Huskies to make their move. They will face USC, Utah and Oregon State — a trio of ranked teams — to start November before facing Washington State in the Apple Cup.

If the Huskies handle their business, it would be inconceivable to keep Washington outside the top 4 down the stretch as we head toward December.