While the wait Sunday was a bit nervous, the Huskies have come a long way in a short time

Like Chris Petersen, listening to the nattering nabobs on television Sunday morning was making me think that the Huskies’ playoff hopes had transformed from a fait accompli to a fait unaccompli.

But maybe fomenting all that Washington doubt — and making the unflappable Petersen very nervous in the process — was just ESPN’s attempt to boost ratings for its big reveal Sunday. Because after all the heated debates about the relative worthiness of every school not named Alabama, the same four teams that came out of rankings last week held their playoff spots. Chalk is not very compelling.

In the end, the committee got it right. And though that opinion might not be shared in Happy Valley or Ann Arbor, any attempts to conjure up a final four scenario that didn’t include the Huskies was doomed to failure. You simply can’t go into the final weekend with a playoff berth, crush a top-10 Colorado team by 31 points, and lose that spot.

I did find it perversely amusing, though, that committee chairman Kirby Hocutt mentioned that one key factor in Washington’s favor was the positive evaluation of the five former coaches on the committee — which means Ty Willingham might have finally done something favorable for the program. And one can only assume that Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens gritted his teeth and advocated for his Pac-12 conference brethren.

Husky fans might quibble about being ranked fourth, with the booby prize of facing Alabama in the first round, rather than moving up to second or third. But what should shine through at this moment is not nitpicking about where they rank, but rather what a monumental achievement this is for the Husky program in general, and Petersen in particular.

It was a mere eight seasons ago that the aforementioned Willingham went 0-12 and left the Huskies at the absolute nadir of their football history. His successor, Steve Sarkisian, brought back respectability, but I still remember the anger and consternation within the program when Sarkisian abandoned everyone to take the USC job.

In retrospect, that turned out to be a gift to the UW program on multiple levels, but most emphatically because of the opportunity to hire Petersen. There were a few who wondered if his magic at a small school like Boise State would transfer to the big-boy division of college football — because it hadn’t always. It certainly didn’t with Petersen’s predecessor at Boise, Dan Hawkins.

That question has been put to rest in a mere three years, in which the Huskies have ascended to the elite level of the college landscape. They are back in Don James territory, which is the highest praise a Husky coach can receive.

Petersen talked Sunday of “stretch goals” for his players, which involves dreaming about lofty achievements like a Rose Bowl title. Was competing for a national title one of Petersen’s stretch goals back in December of 2013, when he finally gave in to one of the many suitors around the country trying to lure him away from Boise State?

“I envisioned being good, for sure,’’ Petersen said. “And I think everybody in our locker room and everybody in our building, they wouldn’t have come here if they didn’t think we could be one of the better programs around. In terms of what exactly that means and where you go, so much of that’s out of your control. But from the second that we came here, I think everybody really envisioned being good.

“And it took us a minute to get there, and that was about as frustrating as anything a lot of us had been through, but that was part of the process.”

Washington went 8-6 in Petersen’s first year in Seattle and 7-6 last year, hardly overnight success. But in the course of winning the final three games of the 2015 season were sewn the seeds of success that blossomed this year; not that Petersen ever acknowledged that the preseason hype — since justified tenfold — was anything more than that unwelcome noise.

The reward is a matchup with No. 1 Alabama that Petersen called “the biggest challenge we’ve ever faced as football coaches and players.”

Speaking on ESPN after the pairings were announced, Petersen was asked about those omnipresent signs that can be seen on GameDay, no matter the venue (including Seattle) that say, “We want Alabama.”

“Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for,’’ Petersen said with a laugh. “I didn’t hold that sign up.”

Petersen later joked he has a secret weapon in preparing for powerful Alabama, which is the overwhelming favorite to defend its national title and give Nick Saban his sixth title.

“We’ll prepare hard, and fortunately the Seahawks are here in town. Maybe they’ll scrimmage us to get us ready for those guys, I don’t know.’’

The Huskies will be heavy underdogs — by two touchdowns according to the early betting line — and deservedly so. Alabama has been far and away the dominant team in college football this year, one with no peers so far.

Yet Washington is loaded with NFL-caliber players, and may be as well balanced as any team the Crimson Tide has faced this year. I think the Huskies have a fighter’s chance — and if the Huskies can somehow pull off this upset, well, making the playoffs will have been instantly usurped as this program’s monumental achievement.

With one more chance to one-up it.