Will Washington Huskies be part of potential college football super league?

[DerekJohnson]

Washington runs out of the tunnel before its regular season finale against 5th-ranked Oregon, Nov. 29, 2025, at Husky Stadium in Seattle. (Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times)

Skip Ad



By
Jon Wilner

Bay Area News Group

The Hotline mailbag publishes weekly. Send questions to wilnerhotline@bayareanewsgroup.com and include “mailbag” in the subject line. Or hit me on the social media platform X: @WilnerHotline. Some questions have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Will Washington be part of the eventual 40-team super league? — @_Redda17

Washington’s participation seems likely even if the super league includes just 32 schools — and we believe the number will be closer to 30 than 50 — but it should not be assumed.

The current trajectory works. As long as the Huskies win eight or nine games per year and finish in the top half of the Big Ten, we like their chances to make the cut.

The Seattle market would be desirable to whatever media and private equity companies broadcast and fund the super league. And while the Huskies aren’t a true blue blood of the sport, their brand is indisputably on the next tier.

But if the super league is just 28 or 32 teams and UW experiences a multi-year slippage in performance, attendance, TV ratings, etc., the situation could get dicey.

Our slight skepticism on this matter is rooted in the financial challenges facing the athletic department — specifically, the combination of debt, half shares of Big Ten media revenue, stout intra-conference competition and a solid-but-not-ideal NIL game.

That combination could serve to undermine football success.

To be clear: We don’t expect that scenario to play out. But if you’re ranking the likelihood of super league participation for the West Coast schools in the Big Ten, the Huskies would be a clear third behind USC and Oregon, but ahead of UCLA.

A question to ponder: If a super league is inevitable and history could be reversed, would Washington have been better off remaining in the Pac-12 and dominating (along with Oregon) than joining the Big Ten as a perennial fifth- or sixth-place finisher?

 

[BleachedAnusDawg]

I'm trying to decide how much that last sentence will ring true. Maybe not the part about staying in the PAC with Oregon, because I think the conference still would've failed, but I don't think Wilner is being a UW hater when he says the school is a perennial fifth or sixth place finisher. UW has never had a long-lasting will to succeed at all costs.

 

[haie]

The answer is a simple yes and his dumb ass has to admit that at the start. I don't care about any of Wilner's other butthurtisms after that.

 

[flatus]

Wow, ballsy to call UW a perennial 5th-6th place finisher in the B1G.

Does this guy have some beef with UW or what?

 

[theknowledge]

@haie is right. If Wilner comes out and basically says yes, Washington is in, then it’s a forgone conclusion. He still hates UW and he basically should have ended the response after the first three paragraphs. Instead he likes to smell his own farts and kept stinking up the answer with what he wishes will happen instead of the cold reality that UW is firmly a top 20-25 program even when they only kinda care.

 

[WoolleyDoog]

Having some teams in the Pacific Time Zone would be a good idea for a super league. People forget that.

 

[BleachedAnusDawg]

I don't think many people in NFL towns are going to care about the NFL-lite that CFBis turning into.

Also, what are the "traditional powers" of CFB, and their fans, going to do when they no longer have the bottom-feeder schools around to pad their win totals every season? Texas fans will be hilarious to watch when their team is 6 - 6 every season.

I really don't see any way that a super league is a long-term positive for CFB. IMO the sport was built upon regional rivalries and it will die without them and fan travel. UW should start making plans to shrink seating capacity at Husky Stadium down to about 35,000.

 

[WoolleyDoog]

I don't think many people in NFL towns are going to care about the NFL-lite that CFBis turning into.

Also, what are the "traditional powers" of CFB, and their fans, going to do when they no longer have the bottom-feeder schools around to pad their win totals every season? Texas fans will be hilarious to watch when their team is 6 - 6 every season.

I really don't see any way that a super league is a long-term positive for CFB. IMO the sport was built upon regional rivalries and it will die without them and fan travel. UW should start making plans to shrink seating capacity at Husky Stadium down to about 35,000.

This is a good breakdown. Seems like they are on a mission to try and appeal to Zynz FanDuel fantasy football bros. It's going to keep working for them until the bottom falls out on a TV contract because advertisers have to eventually decide there's little point to spend on TV advertising. I'm surprised they haven't already.

 

[haie]

Ugh no it's the off-season and my engagements are down, better bring up the Super League again! Go hawks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[BleachedAnusDawg]

Do you think a super league is not going to happen?

 

[haie]

How it's described by people that keep trying to wish it into existence? Nope.

 

[WoolleyDoog]

How it's described by people that keep trying to wish it into existence? Nope.

Fair poont. One thing I feel like keeps happening in sports and I guess culture in general is media/social media people say shit over and over and over again like it has to happen.

 

[haie]

You just KNOW the super league is coming because you just know it is.

It's obvious. It's going to be Bama and Ohio State and LSU Oregon and everyone else will be playing Central. Brb, gotta get back in my Kia and complete my honey do list or else I'm not getting a handjob this weekend.

 

[DawgOfTheAges]

Well you are right, this turns into the NFL light where a 70% - 80% win rate team is a playoff team. Parity becomes a thing, totally dependent on TV revenue sharing and Payroll limits to work with. I can see all of that happening ~ the only problem is that the historical blue bloods will demand a bigger slice of the pie and their own network cashflow ~ the same old problems that have always plagued conferences

 

[PostGameOrangeSlices]

Super League of teams playing for a separate title ala NFL lite would put this sport on life support

 

[WoolleyDoog]

Super League of teams playing for a separate title ala NFL lite would put this sport on life support

I don't want a super league so I'm biased but I think college football going more and more NFL Lite will yeah just kind of whittle it down in true popularity. I'm guessing they're probably getting some Zynz bros and Twitter fake NFL Draft expert with 345 follower types by doing what they're doing but the sport is built on families passing fandom down generation to generation even if their team wasn't a blue blood and people feeling associated with the team because they went to school there.

If anyone really wants NFL Lite it would be much easier/better for the NFL just to put 2-3 games a week on Saturdays the way they do late in the season.

 

[priapism]

UW is something like the 18th most winning program and has a top 18 fanbase in size. Seattle is the 14th biggest TV market and will become the 5th to 6th biggest TV market in a few decades. Wilner is discussing a non-issue. UW is on pace to be considered a top 10 team...and potentially get a decent-sized, independent, TV contract just behind teams like USC or Michigan.
The new super conference would likely have most all the SEC and B1G teams + 6 ACC teams + Utah and Arizona State, so it will eventually be close to 50 schools, IMO. The super conference will be formed, because most of the rest of the dreck can't spend, nor fund their teams at the same level as the top 40-50 schools. For example, I foresee UW beating Wazzu consistently like 42-10 every year, because Wazzu and the various teams like them just aren't going to be competitive anymore. It might become unnecessary for UW to play WSU anymore after UW wins 12-15 straight games on them. To keep the 40-50 teams in the super conference competitive, it will eventually need a salary cap.
Teams like BYU and Texas Tech are about to get the cold shoulder.

 

[DerekJohnson]

I don't think many people in NFL towns are going to care about the NFL-lite that CFBis turning into.

Also, what are the "traditional powers" of CFB, and their fans, going to do when they no longer have the bottom-feeder schools around to pad their win totals every season? Texas fans will be hilarious to watch when their team is 6 - 6 every season.

I really don't see any way that a super league is a long-term positive for CFB. IMO the sport was built upon regional rivalries and it will die without them and fan travel. UW should start making plans to shrink seating capacity at Husky Stadium down to about 35,000.

Take out the student section put in the pea patch!

 

[WoolleyDoog]

UW is something like the 18th most winning program and has a top 18 fanbase in size. Seattle is the 14th biggest TV market and will become the 5th to 6th biggest TV market in a few decades. Wilner is discussing a non-issue. UW is on pace to be considered a top 10 team...and potentially get a decent-sized, independent, TV contract just behind teams like USC or Michigan.
The new super conference would likely have most all the SEC and B1G teams + 6 ACC teams + Utah and Arizona State, so it will eventually be close to 50 schools, IMO. The super conference will be formed, because most of the rest of the dreck can't spend, nor fund their teams at the same level as the top 40-50 schools. For example, I foresee UW beating Wazzu consistently like 42-10 every year, because Wazzu and the various teams like them just aren't going to be competitive anymore. It might become unnecessary for UW to play WSU anymore after UW wins 12-15 straight games on them. To keep the 40-50 teams in the super conference competitive, it will eventually need a salary cap.
Teams like BYU and Texas Tech are about to get the cold shoulder.

I would be surprised if teams like BYU and Texas Tech can't just buy their way in and it's kind of what they are already doing. BYU is also in a growing market and is actually a rare kind of national brand because of the mormon shit. Texas Tech can sell that they're the fifth biggest school in a growing state that worships football. I think schools like Minnesota and Colorado who look good in some ways on paper but kind of suck would be more likely targets and UW has to fight to avoid being that. Then you have Mississippi State and Purdue who coast on what conference they have been in who are Coug like.

 

[dtd]

UW is something like the 18th most winning program and has a top 18 fanbase in size. Seattle is the 14th biggest TV market and will become the 5th to 6th biggest TV market in a few decades. Wilner is discussing a non-issue. UW is on pace to be considered a top 10 team...and potentially get a decent-sized, independent, TV contract just behind teams like USC or Michigan.
The new super conference would likely have most all the SEC and B1G teams + 6 ACC teams + Utah and Arizona State, so it will eventually be close to 50 schools, IMO. The super conference will be formed, because most of the rest of the dreck can't spend, nor fund their teams at the same level as the top 40-50 schools. For example, I foresee UW beating Wazzu consistently like 42-10 every year, because Wazzu and the various teams like them just aren't going to be competitive anymore. It might become unnecessary for UW to play WSU anymore after UW wins 12-15 straight games on them. To keep the 40-50 teams in the super conference competitive, it will eventually need a salary cap.
Teams like BYU and Texas Tech are about to get the cold shoulder.

Since the formation of FBS/D1A in 1978 UW is 22nd among current P4 programs in win %.

The rest of your post is utter nonsense make believe bullshit.