SEATTLE -- It had been quite some time since Washington fans were as excited about a season as they were entering 2016. The Huskies were No. 14 in the AP preseason poll -- too low, UW fans thought -- and several prognosticators viewed Washington as a dark horse to make a College Football Playoff run.

University of Washington junior Austin Martin decided he would buy into the football hype. On the eve of the Huskies' season opener against Rutgers, he went to the student bookstore, bought purple paint and poster board -- no need for paint brushes when finger painting will work just fine -- and concocted a sign bearing what has become a familiar message in college football: "We Want Bama."

Alabama's run of dominance in recent years has led many college football fan bases to take aim at the Crimson Tide. Sometimes, it's a case of hubris, or a well-intentioned display of exuberance. Other times it's a joke.

"I just think it’s funny. I don’t think much of it," said Alabama offensive lineman Ross Pierschbacher. "I just think it’s funny how they twist it, like, 'Bama wants us' and stuff like that. I think it’s kind of funny. But we don’t get too much of a kick out of it. It’s just another sign."

Being the educated football fan he is, Martin knew that if the Huskies were to deliver on their potential with a playoff run, it would likely mean going through Alabama.

So then, why wouldn’t Washington want Bama?

The obvious reason is that every team that has wanted the Tide (read: has been scheduled to play them) in the last 25 outings has lost.

Cleveland Browns fans have wanted Bama. BYU has wanted Bama. Even Pop Warner teams have wanted Bama. All of those teams, arguably, wouldn’t have much of a shot against Alabama (sorry, Cleveland, but you know it’s true).

After Washington's matchup against Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl was announced, Huskies coach Chris Petersen joked that people should be careful what they wish for because he “didn’t hold that sign up.”

But for those Washington fans who did hold up that sign, like Martin, there was no better time to start the drumbeat than Week 1 against Rutgers. Martin constructed the sign with two friends the day before the game (it took two tries because finger painting isn’t easy).

“Aesthetically,” Martin said, “that sign wasn’t the greatest artistically. Maybe we could’ve maybe not had three 20-year-old idiots trying to paint the sign. ... But I wouldn’t change the wording of the sign at all.”

When the sign appeared on the Husky Stadium JumboTron, it was greeted by both cheers and laughs, eventually provoking a “We Want Bama” chant from the student section. Washington was en route to a 1-0 start, and Martin knew the Huskies’ potential date with the SEC's Death Star was one game closer.

Across the student section, freshman Ravi Patel spotted Martin’s “We Want Bama” sign and laughed to himself. As a senior in high school, the future aeronautical engineering student was deciding between Ohio State and Washington, eventually choosing the latter. Like Washington safety Budda Baker, he wanted to stay close to home, and realized in hindsight that both of his final options were schools that would eventually want Bama.

Patel had truly bought into the hype after watching the Huskies stomp Stanford at home on Sept. 30. When ESPN’s College GameDay announced it was coming to Seattle for the Washington-USC game on Nov. 12, a student group set out poster boards and markers outside of the student union on campus for sign-making.

If you say so... pic.twitter.com/HNuQNYSwzl

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) November 12, 2016

“At that point, a lot of people wanted to do the 'We Want Bama' signs, so I thought I should try to make mine look a little different,” Patel said. “So I used the U-Dub logo and then red for Bama.”

Admittedly, Patel had not seen a single Alabama football play when he made that sign, but even in hindsight he wouldn’t make any changes to the wording. However, he wished he made it a bit more durable because eventually the Seattle rain got the better of his tricolor poster board masterpiece.

Patel could’ve taken some sign-making tips from lifelong Huskies fan Isabelle Ochsner. She and her husband are both Washington grads (’88 and ’86, respectively) and two of their three children are currently enrolled at the University of Washington.

Her best friend, Chryse, made her a sign that lasted every game from Cal (Game 9) to the Pac-12 title game (Game 13), where it caught the attention of TV cameras across the stadium.

It was a departure from what had been the norm for Washington fans this season, but it maintained the same underlying message: Bring on Bama.

Ochsner, Patel and Martin will all have their wish granted.

Congrats?

Washington fans know their team is the underdog, but many -- like Ochsner -- feel confident. She’s trying to take this playoff one game at a time but admits that after her family travels to Atlanta, she’s “hoping to get to Florida.”

For which the only thing to say is: Safe travels and bring on Ohio State or Clemson.

Alex Scarborough contributed to this report.