Utah has back-to-back Pac-12 titles, USC has the Heisman and Colorado has the hype, but might Washington just be the team to beat in the Pac-12? And might that come with a College Football Playoff berth?

As Kalen DeBoer and the Huskies prepare for a spring showcase that doubles as a fireworks show, they seem to be sneaking under the radar, even if they are getting glowing write-ups from ESPN.

Oregon is getting its typically adoring coverage, and its in-state mate Oregon State has been a media darling since DJ Uiagalelei arrived from Clemson after a 10-win season — and the aforementioned Utes, Trojans and Buffaloes are getting their fair share of love.

And look, Washington isn’t some afterthought.

But I can’t help but think that their No. 21 ranking in ESPN’s Football Power Index, which was updated on Tuesday, is far too low.

And I can’t wait to see what the Huskies do Saturday.

*****

ESPN is predictably all over Colorado and Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders — so much so that the Buffaloes’ Spring game is the only one televised by the sports behemoth this year, filling a gap that USC and new head coach Lincoln Riley claimed last year — but for my money, Washington is the team to watch on Saturday.

No team outside of TCU boasted a bigger turnaround in 2022 than the Huskies.

With DeBoer leaving Fresno State and taking his wonderboy, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, along with him, Washington was a de rigueur pick to bounce back from a horrendous 2021 campaign, when it finished 4-8 and suffered the embarrassment of the Jimmy Lake firing.

Some publications pegged the Huskies for a bowl bid (including Saturday Out West, barely), but just about no one projected them to win 11 games, beat 4 ranked opponents and win 7 straight games against the likes of Oregon, Oregon State and Texas. No one expected former Indiana reclamation project Michael Penix Jr. to rejoin his former Hoosiers offensive coordinator, DeBoer, for a reunion that would result in a nation-leading 357 passing yards per game, nearly 20 yards more than the No. 2 passer. No one projected the Huskies offense, which finished 9th in the league in scoring in 2021 to finish 7th nationally in 2022.

What Penix and Co. did last year was as unexpected as it was impressive, and, boy was it impressive.

And Washington is just getting started.

“For our guys, it’s still about us,” DeBoer told the Seattle Times’ Larry Stone on the eve of spring camp. “It’s still about just being focused and remember how we got there. Last year in everything we did, there was urgency, there was an intensity about it. The thing I’m just so proud of our guys is, I think that urgency and intensity is even higher. I really do. They’re not taking anything for granted. They’re enjoying the moment; they enjoy the work.

“They realize that work is what got them there last year, and they’re not shy. They’re not afraid to do it.”

If the Huskies put on a show on Saturday and keep that energy through the summer, the Pac-12 better be on notice.

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A turnaround like Washington was bound to raise some eyebrows after the kind of turnaround it had last year, and DeBoer said the Huskies’ recruiting has changed after an 11-seasons.

“The conversations are different,” he told reporters after the Huskies’ second scrimmage last week. “You’re sharing your philosophy and getting to know them and building relationships, but we’re speaking with now some history with the new staff and what we accomplished, rather than here’s what we see us doing. There’s a confidence that you can have when there’s proof already out there. Those conversations I think are just a little bit different. There’s eye-opening that happens a little bit.

“People are always amazed when they come here, what it looks like and feels like. The team is one of our greatest recruiters, and when the prospects are here and they feel the vibe from our team, especially now that they’re out here and they’re confident and working together, it goes so far. That’s what I hear the most is just how much chemistry and family there is, whether it’s the coaches or the players.”

But the job DeBoer did re-recruiting the Huskies is what has people excited about the 2023 campaign.

Starting with Grubb, his fantastic offensive coordinator who will be thrown a bunch of money in the near future, either as the hottest coordinator on the market or as a head coach. Then with Penix, who enters this season as a Heisman hopeful. Then there’s the terrific trio at wide receiver — Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan — who stack up against any trio, backed up by arguably the top backup corps in the country.

Stud defenders Bralen Trice and Zion Tupuola-Fetui returned, as well, forsaking both the NFL and the transfer portal.

The fire that existed last year is still burning, and the Huskies head into Saturday ready to pounce.

“We all hated the position we were in,” Trice told ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg this week. “We were mad, we were angry, and helping our new coaches in helped drive that hunger that we had. Pac-12 championship, Mike getting Heisman, I’m hoping to get defensive player of the year and going all the way, CFP, we’re more than capable.”