The game without a name is back. Don’t believe me?

You must not have have heard, Washington is 3-4.

It’s time to rally the heroes of yesteryear. Someone call Steve Emtman. Send Don James a text. Twitter Napoleon Kaufman and Facebook Billy Joe Hobert. The legends of Montlake must know…the Huskies are back!

Scoff at 3-4 all you want, this is the new era of purple reign where moral victories get equal billing to bowl game triumphs. They almost beat LSU!

Epic home wins make a season. They beat USC!

Three wins indicates a resurgence. They can beat Oregon!

There’s only one problem with this comeback tour. On Saturday, one team is significantly better than the other and it ain’t the ones wearing the emasculating color.

We’re being told it’s a rivalry game in which anything can happen and that’s true. It’s been said that Washington is a much different team at home. Also factual. Some have noted this version of Husky football plays hard and always has a chance to win. It’s no lie.

FOTB's on fire. Two in a row.

The only problem I’m ultimately having with embracing this inevitable upset is the simple, tiny, irrelevant fact that Oregon’s football team is a lot better than Washington’s.

Watch the first half of the season and call me a liar. The Huskies are at the bottom of the conference in most offensive and defensive categories. They don’t defend the run well and Oregon just so happens to be really good at that. There’s no better crowd killer than a dominant running game.

The Huskies are fairly one dimensional on offense and against a good defense like Oregon’s, that’s not going to get it done. The Ducks have made a killing in games where they shut down the opposing running game and teed off on the quarterback.

Don’t get me wrong, here. This is going to be a close game. If LSU, USC and Arizona struggled at Husky Stadium, there’s no reason to suspect the Ducks will have it easy. Jake Locker has become a legitimate threat and if there’s a quarterback that can survive an anemic running game, he’s it. You also can’t discredit the desire the Huskies play with. Any team that competes as hard as they do is going to have a chance to win.

But none of it’s enough, not when the Ducks are this much better. On Saturday, a rivalry will be reborn, but Oregon’s dominance will continue.

This week’s rankings are sponsored by the Harris and Coaches’ polls. Select members of each agreed to give me fake answers to some pressing questions about the reasoning behind their votes. Upon review, I’m nervous that the people deciding on these matters may be a problem.

1. USC (2-1)
Les Miles, LSU head coach (Coaches):

“What choice do I have? The Trojans never have to play tough teams in conference play. They sure as hell wouldn’t ever lose to one of those Pac-10 patsies so, duh, I put them first.”

2. Cal (3-1)
Oklahoma Sooners coach Bob Stoops (Coaches):

“Are you serious? Trust me when I say that just because Oregon wins a game, it doesn’t mean they really won, ok? I’m operating under the assumption Cal won and am voting them here.”

3. Oregon (3-1)
Eugene Register-Guard columnist George Schroeder (Harris):

“I was a columnist in Oklahoma back when the Sooners visited Autzen Stadium and I have to admit, Bob has a point. Still, at least I voted with sanity.” That you did, George.

4. Washington (2-1)
Pete Dawkins, Heisman Trophy winner at Army in 1958 – that’s right, Army in 1958 (Harris):

“Did I see that Stanford beat Washington? Well, yes I did, but Don James is an incredible coach and the Huskies seem to always end up in a Rose or Orange Bowl so I still think they’re better.”

5. Stanford (2-1)
Harvey Schiller, CEO GlobalOptions Group and President of the International Baseball Federation (Harris):

If I may cut in for a moment, can you tell us what the hell you’re doing voting in a college football poll?

“Well, I was SEC Commissioner about 20 years ago.”

Yeah?

“That’s all.”

Wow, ok then, uh, what’s up with Stanford?

“Well, as someone who has very little to do with college football, I relate to Stanford fans, you know? I mean, I have no idea what they’ve done so far and couldn’t tell you if they won or lost, so I think I really get what that program is all about.”

6. Oregon State (2-1)
Former Oregon State player Steve Preece (Harris):

“The thing is, as a color commentator for Beaver broadcasts, I’m completely impartial. We always improve as the season goes on. We’re still really good. We’ll bounce back. We probably would beat Arizona a month from now. We should be higher than them. We are great. We.”

7. Arizona (2-1)
Charlie Weiss, Notre Dame head coach (Coaches):

“Of course I saw the game damn game – excuse me, darn.”

But coach, you had a game at the same time.

“So what? I popped the tape in when I got home, sat down with a bucket of KFC and a side of cheesecake and watched the whole thing. Oregon State is better. Plain and simple. Do you have any popcorn?”

8. Arizona State (2-1)
John Toner, former Connecticut athletic director (Harris):

“As best I can tell, I haven’t had anything to do with college athletics since 1987. That’s about the last time Arizona State played a Pac-10 game so we just didn’t have anything to go on yet when voting on the Sun Devils. Frankly, I don’t even know why I have a vote in this thing.”

9. UCLA (3-0)
DeWayne Walker, New Mexico State head coach (coaches):

“If UCLA thinks Rick Neuheisel is a better choice than me, so be it. I’m not bitter. You tell me UCLA is 3-0 and that’s great, but for all I know they’ll finish 3-9. God knows Rick’s team was terrible last year. Who’s to say it won’t happen again?”

10.Washington State (1-3)
Clarkston Hines, former Duke player (Harris):

“Listen, I played at Duke. I know a bad team when I see one. This was an easy vote that even we couldn’t mess up.”

Full list of voters: Coaches | Harris