The University of Washington football team finished up the regular season at 8-4 on Saturday with a 12-point loss against the University of Oregon at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

Though the ending was disappointing, Washington still has one more game to play, and they'll learn their bowl game placement soon.

Even though this season isn't over yet, it's already time to start thinking about the future, as Washington secured its highest-rated recruiting class ever on Wednesday's National Signing Day. You can read more about that here.

Furthermore, while speaking about the future in a 93.3 KJR radio interview, head coach Jedd Fisch said the program will spend the next six months trying to figure out how to get $20-25 million to spend on football, clearly for NIL money.

Fisch is right. Money is what drives college football right now, and buying the roster you can is the ultimate goal. College football has become a state of perpetual free agency, bringing it closer to the pro game than ever before.

It's just sad that we've gotten here, really. 

See, I don't want to sound old, or boring or too "back in my day," but this is so far from what NIL was intended for it's not even funny.

"Name, image and likeness" is supposed to be exactly that, but instead, it's turned into pay-for-play with very few, if any, guardrails. And that's made for an intriguing on-field product, but it doesn't feel better for fans in many ways.

You can see my full thoughts in the video above.

The University of Washington men's basketball team mounted a furious comeback on Wednesday night but came up just short in its Big 10 opener against UCLA. The Huskies lost 82-80, falling to 5-3 on the season.

Our own Teren Kowatsch was there and you can read his full game story here.

Washington will take on No. 24 Southern Cal on Saturday.

"We got to worry about ourselves. USC is good enough right now," Washington head coach Danny Sprinkle said in a postgame interview. "Coach (Eric Musselman's) got them rolling. They're playing tremendous right now. They're fast, they're athletic, they put a lot of pressure on you at the rim. ... They're undefeated for a reason."

The Washington women are currently ranked No. 21 nationally and are 8-0 this season. They'll kick off Big 10 play themselves on Sunday evening at 5:00 p.m. PT. They will also take on USC, also in Los Angeles.

WASHINGTON SIGNS HIGHEST-RATED RECRUITING CLASS IN PROGRAM HISTORY: The Huskies cemented one of the best recruiting classes in the country on National Signing Day on Wednesday. CLICK HERE

WASHINGTON FLIPS 4-STAR RECEIVER: The Huskies earned another big recruiting win and received a commitment from Jordan Clay. CLICK HERE

WASHINGTON'S ALL-CONFERENCE GUARD COULD BE DEALING WITH ANOTHER INJURY: Senior Huskies senior Elle Ladine exited Monday's win against San Jose State with an undisclosed injury. CLICK HERE

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