Three Bowl Projections

[SDCoug]

CBS - Peach Bowl vs Kentucky
SI - Rose Bowl vs Michigan
SB - Rose Bowl vs Ohio State

SI and SB think we win the conference. CBS thinks Utah wins the conference but we still get the New Years Six.

There’s still a lot of football to go but it’s sure fun to get a little respect from around the country. Before yesterday most seemed to assume that we would still finish third in the North to udump and Stanford.

 

[firecoug]

And cbs sports predicts the Cougs will be #11 in the AP, right behind Kentucky. When was the last time WSU still had a shot at a national title in November? This season has been so much fun to watch.

 

[CougPatrol]

When was the last time WSU still had a shot at a national title in November? This season has been so much fun to watch.

1997 and 2002, but let’s be clear, nobody outside of Alabama has a shot at the National title. As much as I’d like us to make the playoff, facing the Tide in the Semifinals will be brutal for us and any team. The Rose Bowl would be better IMO.

 

[firecoug]

1997 and 2002, exactly right. Those were very special seasons and this one is right up there. I agree the Tide appears to be on another plane but I'd love to see the Cougs get a shot if it's meant to be. The Rose would be just as good as well.

 

[SDCoug]

1997 and 2002, but let’s be clear, nobody outside of Alabama has a shot at the National title. As much as I’d like us to make the playoff, facing the Tide in the Semifinals will be brutal for us and any team. The Rose Bowl would be better IMO.

Any Coug that sat (stood) in the Rose Bowl in 1998 has to be salivating at an opportunity to play Michigan again In Pasadena on New Years Day. Especially if it’s a match up two conference champs. I’ll never forget being trapped in the top of that stadium around the 35 yard line with no way to get out. Forced to watch as Michigan fans celebrated on the field when there should have been two clicks on the clock.

 

[CougPatrol]

We’d be an afterthought opponent playing Alabama in the playoff. The coverage would be 95/5 in favor of Bama, and the outcome, as would be the case with any Bama opponent, would be decided early.

 

[BiggsCoug]

If matched with Utah in the conference title game I dont think they will win. I saw it as disrespect for a WSU team getting hot.

Im fine with Rose or playoff.

 

[CougSinceBirth]

If matched with Utah in the conference title game I dont think they will win. I saw it as disrespect for a WSU team getting hot.

Im fine with Rose or playoff.

A Rose Bowl against Michigan would be fun.

 

[chipdouglas]

Kentucky would be interesting for the Air Raid history and I’m sure we would win.

Michigan would be my fave - very winnable Rose Bowl rematch and tons of press for beating their lifeless offense. I’ve spoken to lots of State fans who say UM has similar fans to UW: ignorant, arrogant and entitled.

Ohio State gives us a good chance of winning but I see it as the toughest draw. I HATE Urby and that perennially classless cheating program though, and it would give us the biggest national boost to beat them. They would likely come out flat as we’re not Clemson, Oklahoma or Alabama.

 

[froropmkr72]

Wouldn't THE Ohio State be fun to beat? I mean...seriously.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

I was searching different sites to see what the different bowl projections and the parent company of a certain other website doesn't have Utah shown in the top five bowls for the Pac-12. They only have one Pac-12 team in NY6 bowls (Cougs in the Rose). Their order:

Rose: WSU
Alamo: UW
Holiday: Stanford
Redbox: Oregon
Sun: USC

They must expect the Utes to fall all the way to the Vegas Bowl or Cheez-It Bowl (neither one is listed)......or they are just too stupid to know better.

 

[Cougatron]

Rose Bowl vs Michigan rematch would be excellent, I am fine with Ohio State as well.

The Playoffs are the Orange Bowl and Cotton bowl this year.

Now I understand that it is a long shot but the National Championship is in Santa Clara in Levi Stadium this year.

It is probably the closest the title game will be to Pullman for awhile, and I can guarantee every Coug in the West and most on the east would find a way to get there for that.

To get there we would have to win out and take the title. That’s what we can control. Here’s what needs to work in our favor.

Alabama vs LSU - this weekend we need Bama to hand LSU its second loss.

Michigan vs Penn State - we need Penn State to give Michigan its second loss.

West Virginia - need them to lose to Texas and then West Virginia to beat Oklahoma at the end of the year.

Ohio State needs to lose to Michigan in the Rivalry game giving them 2 losses.

Georgia needs to lose to bama in the SEC championship game giving them 2 losses

UCF needs to lose to USF at the end of the year or drop a game to anyone.

USC needs to beat Notre Dame at the end of the year.

If we win out (a big if)
And these scenarios play out (another even big if)

WSU will be selected to the playoffs as a power 5 conference champion with just 1 loss by small margin in the early part of the season (that was fixed by the refs/Pac 12 office)

Alabama as the undefeated SEC champ will be invited.
Clemson as the undefeated ACC champ will be invited.

And the last spot is a toss up between a Notre Dame team that stumbled at the end of the year or a two loss B1G champ. There will be a whole lot of drama about this.

In the end I think they will give it to 1 loss Notre Dame infuriating people because Notre beat Michigan early.

So the CFP would be

WSU
Alabama
Clemson
Notre Dame

The hope would be that we would draw Notre Dame and let Clemson / Bama slug it out.

That would give us a chance to sneak into the title game, but we also could possibly do it against Clemson.

Bama would be the biggest David vs Goliath matchup ever. But someone will have to face them for the title.

The Bama WSU game would have plenty of story lines. Minshew almost went there as a graduate transfer but chose WSU, Pelleur almost did too but got an extra year of eligibility and stayed, the whole “Mike Price situation”

That’s what I am hoping for this year, but I can settle for the rose bowl that would be nice, but hey if the opportunity is still out there this is what I am pulling for.

 

[kayak15]

I was searching different sites to see what the different bowl projections and the parent company of a certain other website doesn't have Utah shown in the top five bowls for the Pac-12. They only have one Pac-12 team in NY6 bowls (Cougs in the Rose). Their order:

Rose: WSU
Alamo: UW
Holiday: Stanford
Redbox: Oregon
Sun: USC

They must expect the Utes to fall all the way to the Vegas Bowl or Cheez-It Bowl (neither one is listed)......or they are just too stupid to know better.

No Utah!? Ridiculous.

 

[moxeecoug]

Utah being left out like that is ridiculous. Those guys are playing some of the best ball in the country right now and they are good enough to be in the Rose or Fiesta Bowls.

 

[CougPatrol]

Utah being left out like that is ridiculous. Those guys are playing some of the best ball in the country right now and they are good enough to be in the Rose or Fiesta Bowls.

They'll get their love if they continue to win. Honestly, if both Utah and WSU, the Utes would be favored over us in the P12 championship.

 

[Brent H.]

They'll get their love if they continue to win. Honestly, if both Utah and WSU, the Utes would be favored over us in the P12 championship.

Probably by about 4.5-5. They were favored in Pullman by 1.

I wouldn't be surprised if we are underdogs to UW in the AC. Even if it's a 7-4 UW.

 

[95coug]

Put the playoff out of your head, no PAC-12 team is getting in. Alabama and Clemson are in even if they get upset once. Notre Dame probably gets in too, between the strength of their lobby/market and name. That leaves one spot for at least 7 teams to fight for.

LSU likely gets eliminated with a loss to Alabama this week. If they pull the upset, Bama still stays in the top 4.

Michigan/Ohio state will eliminate one of them. Michigan also has penn state this week, so might be eliminated by Monday.

Kentucky/Georgia eliminates one of them. Winner likely plays the LSU/Bama winner for the SEC title. So 3 of those 4 could end up with 2 losses.

Oklahoma goes to West Virginia to end the season, and also has Texas tech and Oklahoma state. Neither is ranked, but they’re not bad.

Wes Virginia is at Texas this week

UCF has Temple, Cincinnati, and USF. Probably their 3 toughest opponents of the season, all in the last 4 weeks.

It’s not impossible for us to get to the top 4, but it’d take so many upsets and unlikely pieces falling into place that it’s unlikely. Add to that the simple truth that our non-conference is miserable, and will be held against us. And, add to that the fact that the last 4 games are going to be a tough run for us, and even if we make it through we have to get by (probably) a Utah team that’s playing better now than they were when we barely beat them. That all makes it a hell of a long shot.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Put the playoff out of your head, no PAC-12 team is getting in. Alabama and Clemson are in even if they get upset once. Notre Dame probably gets in too, between the strength of their lobby/market and name. That leaves one spot for at least 7 teams to fight for.

LSU likely gets eliminated with a loss to Alabama this week. If they pull the upset, Bama still stays in the top 4.

Michigan/Ohio state will eliminate one of them. Michigan also has penn state this week, so might be eliminated by Monday.

Kentucky/Georgia eliminates one of them. Winner likely plays the LSU/Bama winner for the SEC title. So 3 of those 4 could end up with 2 losses.

Oklahoma goes to West Virginia to end the season, and also has Texas tech and Oklahoma state. Neither is ranked, but they’re not bad.

Wes Virginia is at Texas this week

UCF has Temple, Cincinnati, and USF. Probably their 3 toughest opponents of the season, all in the last 4 weeks.

It’s not impossible for us to get to the top 4, but it’d take so many upsets and unlikely pieces falling into place that it’s unlikely. Add to that the simple truth that our non-conference is miserable, and will be held against us. And, add to that the fact that the last 4 games are going to be a tough run for us, and even if we make it through we have to get by (probably) a Utah team that’s playing better now than they were when we barely beat them. That all makes it a hell of a long shot.

I agree that our chances of getting into the playoff are slim and frankly, I'm good either way. At 12-1, we are going to get a serious look. I went through the AP voters poll and looked at how some of the individual voters ranked the Cougs and I was surprised at how many had us at 8 or 9 right now. There's a solid chance that we'll be #9 in the first CFP poll tomorrow night. If that is the case, we need Alabama to run the table. A one loss Alabama team gets in ahead of WSU no matter what...so let those bastards win the SEC. That means that LSU loses and falls behind WSU this week. Kentucky will lose to Georgia. If Michigan loses to PSU as well, that could move us up to #6 if we beat Cal. At that point, Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Ohio State ahead of us.

By the way, the above assumes we are above UCF. Oklahoma has to beat Texas Tech, OSU and West Virginia and likely Texas in the Big 12 championship game to get into the playoff. They have not looked the part consistently to do that this year. Our best bet would be a last game loss to West Virginia. ND is out if they pick up a loss in one of their last four games. If Michigan can knock off Ohio State in the season finale, the puts Ohio State on thin ice. Their Power 5 win against TCU doesn't look very good any more. It would be even nicer if the B1G champ from the other division could win the conference.

We need about three breaks to go our way (along with taking care of our own business) to have a reasonable chance to make the playoffs. With all the chaos around college football, we stand a great chance of getting in at 12-1, but as I said to start, I'd be thrilled with a Rose Bowl trip. Contrary to any signs out there, I don't really want Bama yet.

 

[kougkurt]

Im tired of outlets complaining about out OOC schedule. Yet forget to mention we play 9 league games

 

[Cougatron]

Im tired of outlets complaining about out OOC schedule. Yet forget to mention we play 9 league games

We played 1 FCS team (one of the best in all of FCS) 2 mid majors 1 that went to a bowl the previous year and one that didn’t and will be playing 9 power 5 teams in conference.

Alabama played Louisiana Lafayette, Arkansas State, Louisville, and The Citadel.

 

[Coug-Vandal]

Yeah the refusal to recognize the 9th conference game really distorts the conversation. If it was included in the conversation the Alabama-WSU comparison would look like this.
Alabama-Louisville-Arkansas St.-Louisiana Laf-Citadel all at home
WSU--Wyoming (on the road)-San Jose-Eastern Wash and Colorado (on the road)

Phrased this way it looks like we had the tougher out of conference schedule.