Washington State Football: Bowl Season Now Out of the Question For Cougars, Or Is It?
By Josh Davis
Oct. 13, 2012; Pullman, WA, USA; A group of Washington State Cougars fans look on during the second half against the California Golden Bears at Martin Stadium. The Golden Bears won 31-17. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-US PRESSWIRE
Washington State is 2-6 but looking for a historical run to make the bowl season, needing of course 4 straight which isn’t totally out of the question here. Generally speaking over the past, well, too many seasons, we couldn’t exactly say that and believe it, like at all. This year however, it really is somewhat of a possibility, just due to the dynamics of what’s happening around the team from week to week. So do the Cougars have ANY chance at a postseason birth? Here’s a look at the remaining schedule:
@Utah Utes 3-5 (1-4)
Ucla Bruins 6-2 (3-2)
@Arizona State Sun Devils 5-3 (3-2)
Washington Huskies 4-4 (2-3)
After looking at those records, people are saying “you’re crazy for even thinking it” right now, and rightfully so, but it’s an optimistic point of view that I’m establishing. At the beginning of the year 6-6 was the absolute WORST we thought WSU would go, was it not? That record is still in reach, but of course to this point we really thought the record would be better. The Colorado loss may have been the deciding factor in our teams’ fate as the season rolled on. The confidence and identity loss has clearly lost us some games, but I think after truly standing toe-to-toe with Stanford at least that aspect is back. Still, as schedules go for teams trying to make historical runs, this one isn’t what you’d put at the top of your “wish list”.
We’ll have to come back to ASU/Washington because the outlook is going to change from now to then, but looking at the next two, the Utah game was my favorite winnable game before the weekend, but the spanking of Cal gave me (and many others) pause. I still think the Cougs’ will finally get it done this weekend, ala OSU 2 years ago on the road. Utah is the most inconsistent team besides WSU, and it stands to reason they should come out flat after having such a great performance. Ucla is winnable at home, especially if the Cougs’ win in Utah, but the Bruins for some reason never play good ball in Pullman regardless of their record.