WSU Football: Week 13 Pac-12 Games Have Huge Impact on Cougs’ Bowl Game Scenarios

Nov 16, 2013; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats running back KaDeem Carey (25) is tackled by Washington State Cougars safety Deone Bucannon (20) during the third quarter at Arizona Stadium. The Cougars beat the Wildcats 24-17. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

This is a two part article, but for the sake of letting you just read, instead of splitting up the post times I’ve just split into two pages. Part one deals with my thoughts on each game this week, along with my personal picks and their impact on Washington State’s bowl chances. It’s shorthand in some spots to save space. The second part is some explanations and other detailed thoughts on our bowl chances.

Part 1

Utah @ Wash St. – We are favored by a point and STILL Utah is in the bowl projections list, but not WSU? Someone is missing something, or is very high.

• Utah = 4-6 (1-6) WSU = 5-5 (3-4)
• WSU favored… at home!
• Utah backup qb… on the road
• Arizona 35, Utah 24… WSU 24, Arizona 17??? We get no respect!
• Also, looking at their wins, chances are even two more Ute wins won’t be enough for their bowl hopes.

Oregon @ Arizona – Ducks and Devils could easily bump Arizona right out of a bowl. Same way WSU was in 2006… 4 straight losses, 3 at home, no wins over team w/ winning record. Cougs would benefit from Zona getting thumped twice more if we can come through with a win! Ducks fan this week!

Cal @ Stanford – The Card failed WSU… or did they help? Loss to USC leaves the Pac with only 7 contracted Bowls (only 1 BCS), which is more bad than good if Cougs only get 1 more win.

USC @ Colorado – … (cont. from Cal v. Stan) However… the win @ USC looks HUGE now! You can make excuses all day, but I don’t care why it happened, WSU is potentially the only win in the Coliseum this year! At worst they are 1 of 2 teams to beat USC in the Coliseum in 7 USC home games. That is no small feat.

Washington @ Oregon St. – Who do we route for? Depends on our results earlier in the day, (don’t be a “never route for UW” idiot here), hear me out.

• WSU beats Utah, we must route for the Huskies, as a UW and UO win over OSU, combined with a WSU win in the Apple Cup then boosts the Cougs all the way up to 3rd in the North. (More on this scenario in Pt 2).
• If Utah beats WSU, we want UW to be as down as possible going into the Apple Cup. Go Beavs!
• Also, if it comes down to it, OSU beat WSU so if we need it, tie-breaker scenario with UW and Arizona beomes best possible scenario for WSU’s bowl opportunity.

Arizona St. @ UCLA – Gawd. Just like UW @ OSU, once again the home team is my pick to win the game… and only because they are home team. This game has no bearing whatsoever on WSU, but wouldn’t it be heck-a-fun to see the battle for the Victory Bell and the Duel in the Desert both have championship game implications on the final weekend of Pac-12 football? Yes, it would!