The 01-03 teams or 15-17 teams?

[CougEd]

They will both have nearly the same wins when it is all said and done. The Cougs with Falk coming back will once again be at the top of the Pac 12 North playing UW for the title.

But what team is more talented? Is that a result of the Rose Bowl?

 

[Flatlandcoug]

They will both have nearly the same wins when it is all said and done. The Cougs with Falk coming back will once again be at the top of the Pac 12 North playing UW for the title.

But what team is more talented? Is that a result of the Rose Bowl?

The '01-03 squads are much better in my opinion at this point. The 2015 Cougs lost to an FBS team, 8-5 Cal, 12-2 Stanford, and 7-6 UW. The 2001 Cougs lost to 11-1 Oregon and 8-4 UW. Advantage 2001. The 2016 Cougs lost to an FBS team, Group of Five BSU, 10-2 CU and 11-1 UW. The 2002 Cougs lost to National Champ Ohio State, 7-6 UW and 12-2 Oklahoma. This comparison is closer but the 2002 Cougs would have wiped the field with the 2016 team with a healthy Gesser.

We'll see how next year goes but this current version of WSU is a poor man's version of the '01-03 teams. It took Price 12 years to get to that point, so I'm not exactly hanging my head about it.

 

[CougPatrol]

01-03 Cougs could play defense. A much better team than this version.

 

[dgibbons]

01-03 Cougs could play defense. A much better team than this version.

Just pointing out that unlike recent history, WSU can get to a bowl game with a less than stellar defense now.