The south might not have helped in some sort of important election that took place Tuesday, but Saturday Mississippi State helped out us liberals in Washington by beating previously fourth-ranked Texas A&M, enabling the Washington Huskies to slid in ahead of Ohio State for the fourth and final playoff spot.

The Huskies headed into Berkeley to play Cal and take on one of the conference's top QB's and offenses and came out roses. What's more the offense put up another night of basketball like numbers, not to be outdone by their neighbors in Pullman who hung 60+ on Arizona the same night.

Snagging the no. 4 spot is great for the Huskies, and if they can hold on and get into the Playoff, only then will we find out how truly great this team is. Looking past the blowouts and the perfect record, these Huskies definitely do have some weak spots. Namely their ability to convert on third down, as the offense has not been under much pressure to convert many third down situations, much less any in high pressure situations. Entering Saturday's game against Cal, their conversion rate on third down was only 47%.

Their second achilles' heel is against the rush, as we saw against Utah. If we manage to earn a playoff berth, it looks like UW will be taking on Alabama, a team that moves the ball on the ground as well as any in the land. 

That's why UW fans and the rest of the country need to see this team in the playoff, to find out how good it is. Cal, a decent team by any standard, came out ready to play from the first snap. They got a couple tackles for loss on the Huskies' first drive and were able to stop them on their first couple. However Chris Petersen being the trickster he is, let Pettis air one out to get Washington a big 39-yard gain and some momentum.

John Ross had the best game of his Washington career going off for four catches for 164 yards and three TD's in the first half alone. On one of them, he showed his veteran savvy by slowing up on an under thrown ball, used his body to shield the defender, made the catch and a couple cuts to break free for the score. If that doesn't get him on the NFL's radar, I don't know what will.

Parting shot: Ross and Jake Browning are the NCAA's version of Big Ben and Antonio Brown. They have that big play ability and connection where Browning can just throw it up down field and Ross will get it, but the question is if they can do it against the big boys in the Playoff?

Image: Flickr/McD22