Bowl Projections

[Flatlandcoug]

Surfing around the internet and I was shocked by the bowl projections put out by USA Today for the Pac-12 this week.

1) Rose Bowl - Oregon
2) Alamo Bowl - ASU
3) Las Vegas Bowl - OSU
4) Holiday Bowl - Utah
5) Sun Bowl - WSU
6) LA Bowl - UCLA
7) First Responder - USC

Given the chaos of the year, it would be great to be 5th in the conference, even though I have 0.0% desire to step foot in the town of El Paso again.

Sporting News puts us as an at large bid in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa, FL. Never have I wanted to finish 7th instead of 5th more......

CBS Sports says better luck next year.

247sports says we have a rematch with Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowls. Frack those guys.

Athlon Sports has us as one of the last teams out.

Hope that we can get 2 out of 4 and make it to a bowl game. Great reward for the kids.

 

[COUGinNCW]

LV needs to be the #2 Pac Bowl.

 

[CougSinceBirth]

LV needs to be the #2 Pac Bowl.

They should work to make it as prestigious, if not more than the Fiesta Bowl.

 

[425cougfan]

Any bowl game is going to be hard-earned. Any of Oregon, ASU, and UW on the road would be big wins and tough to get. I don't view Arizona as a complete gimme, either, due to WSU's own limitations, but in November in Pullman and with how objectively bad Arizona is, it's about as close to one as you could ask for.

 

[roses04]

I think Vegas should mover their bowl game to New Years Eve with a 7 pm kick off. Normally nothing else on TV that night, I think this year there is a playoff game that day, but it would be nice to have a bowl game on during a New Years Party, game is over at 10;30- maybe 11. so a 10PM kickoff on the east coast ends at 1. I think it would draw a lot off viewers. Screw the rockin' New Years Eve shows. Be a great way to spend the NYs in Vegas, hit the casinos after the game, bring in the New Year and who know what else New Year might bring.

 

[CougPatrol]

Season is going to come down to Arizona and Apple Cup to end the year. Always a chance we upset ASU or Oregon, but realistically we'll need to win our last 2 games.

I don't personally get enthused about the minor bowl games, but I'm really hoping these kids and coaches get to experience it. It's been a Hell of a couple of seasons for them.

 

[Coug90]

Season is going to come down to Arizona and Apple Cup to end the year. Always a chance we upset ASU or Oregon, but realistically we'll need to win our last 2 games.

I don't personally get enthused about the minor bowl games, but I'm really hoping these kids and coaches get to experience it. It's been a Hell of a couple of seasons for them.

Apple Cup might be for a bowl for both teams. I don’t expect UW fans to show and tix will be easy to come by. Perhaps some of the folks who’ve been avoiding trips to Pullman can find their way to Montlake to give us at least a neutral crowd.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Apple Cup might be for a bowl for both teams. I don’t expect UW fans to show and tix will be easy to come by. Perhaps some of the folks who’ve been avoiding trips to Pullman can find their way to Montlake to give us at least a neutral crowd.

I'm hoping that the mutts bowl hopes are dashed before that game. Their next three games are Stanford, Oregon and ASU. If they lose to the tree, there's a pretty good chance that they are 3-7 heading into their final two games with nothing to play for but pride. They'll probably beat Colorado because the Buffaloes are just as likely to be in free fall by then as well. I don't want it to be 5-6 UW vs 5-6 Wazzu. History says we gack in that situation.

 

[dgibbons]

I think Vegas should mover their bowl game to New Years Eve with a 7 pm kick off. Normally nothing else on TV that night, I think this year there is a playoff game that day, but it would be nice to have a bowl game on during a New Years Party, game is over at 10;30- maybe 11. so a 10PM kickoff on the east coast ends at 1. I think it would draw a lot off viewers. Screw the rockin' New Years Eve shows. Be a great way to spend the NYs in Vegas, hit the casinos after the game, bring in the New Year and who know what else New Year might bring.

The TV networks decide that kind of stuff. But I agree- the New Year's Eve TV slot is one the Pac-12 needs to own. The Rose Bowl will be the only Pac-12 (maybe) game of New Year's Day, as dictated by geography time zones, TV networks and the Rose Bowl committee.

 

[702coug]

The TV networks decide that kind of stuff. But I agree- the New Year's Eve TV slot is one the Pac-12 needs to own. The Rose Bowl will be the only Pac-12 (maybe) game of New Year's Day, as dictated by geography time zones, TV networks and the Rose Bowl committee.

Trust me you dont wanna be in Vegas NYE night. And booking a stay that weekend would be a nightmare.

 

[95coug]

Any bowl game is going to be hard-earned. Any of Oregon, ASU, and UW on the road would be big wins and tough to get. I don't view Arizona as a complete gimme, either, due to WSU's own limitations, but in November in Pullman and with how objectively bad Arizona is, it's about as close to one as you could ask for.

On neutral ground, I don't feel bad about a matchup with ASU. Our challenges would be keeping their QB in the pocket and covering their TE. But Tempe is never good for WSU, I don't have a whole lot of confidence about going in there and stealing a win under any circumstances.

A couple weeks ago, I felt like the injuries piling up on the Ducks roster were giving us a shot. But they look like they're turning the corner and are still pretty solid. I feel like we match up with them a little better, but while Autzen isn't as unfriendly as Tempe...it's still not great.

Arizona is bad. I think they looked better last week, but it might be just that UW is the worst team they've played. They have to have us circled on the calendar as their best remaining chance to win. But they're bad, it'll be November, and their last couple trips to Pullman in November have gone really badly for them. Just hope that a few people show up for a Friday night game before Thanksgiving break.

UW is also not good, but it's hard to tell just how not good they are. It looks like our best matchup, and on paper I think we come out ahead. But some here probably know that it's been a while since we won an Apple Cup, even longer since we won one in Seattle (last game for Alex Brink and Bill Doba). Hard to predict how the mental aspect of this is going to shake out.

Bottom line...I don't think we'll go 0-4 or 4-0. Anything else seems possible. 2-2 or 3-1 gets us in a bowl...and I would guess gives Dickert the job. 1-3 keeps us home and probably in limbo.