Washington State Football: 3 reasons why Pac-12 only football schedule hurts WSU
Washington State Cougars at Cheez-it Bowl. (Photo by Trevor Cokley via dvids hub)
3. Post Season
Playing in a bowl game, no matter how big or small, is a good thing for a college football program, not including any additional financial rewards. It gives teams an extra month of practice they wouldn’t have. Additionally, the postseason experience is a bonding time for the team.
The Cougs were a borderline bowl team to start with because of the coaching change. Taking the three non-conference games off their schedule makes it that much harder for Washington State to reach the postseason.
A college football team has to finish the year with a .500 record or above to qualify for a bowl game. As of now, the Pac-12 plays nine conference games. Ending 4–5 this year won’t cut it. Therefore, we will assume someone at the Pac-12 office recognizes this dilemma and schedules a 10th conference game for member teams to have a better shot of playing postseason football.
Since Washington State already has five conference home games, an additional contest for them would be on the road. Their opponents can be one of two teams, Southern Cal or Arizona. A trip to the desert would be best for WSU, but not necessarily for the Pac-12. The Trojans are preseason South Division favorites and a marquee school in college football.
USC’s options for adding another game are hosting either Washington State or Oregon State. Depending on whose predictions you believe, the Cougars and Beavers are close to even, as lower mid-pack teams in the conference. Some have WSU as the better squad, and others favor OSU (that’s why they play the games). So if the teams are close to equal, the Washington State name carries more “gravitas” due to their recent success. Poll voters will give more weight to a WSU-USC matchup.
Putting it together
Washington State likely would have won two of their non-conference games and possibly all three. Then they would have needed to win three or four conference games to reach a bowl. Without the non-conference games, the task is much more difficult. Five Pac-12 wins is a big ask for the team due to reason one.
How do you think a Pac-12 only schedule affects the Washington State Cougars? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.