HOT COUGAR ACTION: It's Not A Must Win, But It's Close

With four games left, Washington State needs three wins to avoid staying home during bowl season for the eighth straight season. Because they would remain bowl eligible even with a loss, the game against California isn't technically a must win, but it might as well be.

WSU has been installed as a 9.5 point underdog, likely the second best odds they will face in the remaining four games. I would expect the Cougs to be double digit underdogs to both ASU and in the Apple Cup. Throw in the fact Cal may be starting a new quarterback and this is a game WSU needs to win if they have any shot at the postseason.

As for what WSU needs to do to pull of the road upset? Well we will have more on that as the week goes on including a post from me on the redzone struggles tentatively scheduled for later today.

A tricky morning treat from WSU - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Oct. 31, 2011
What a nice day. I don't know what the weather is like, because I have yet to look outside my windows. But I know it's a nice day. It's Halloween and when I was growing up in Southern California, it was always nice on Halloween. So much so, the older boys used to play a trick on us little folk carrying paper grocery sacks. Read on.

WS's Halloween practice not spooky at all - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Oct. 31, 2011
Halloween practice at WSU was quite interesting. A Power Ranger walked by. A couple of schoolgirls. Even a group of folks dressed as soccer players. Wait, maybe they were headed to an intramural game. My bad. Read on for what happened at practice.

First Look: Washington State at Cal - Spokesman.com - Oct. 31, 2011

The stretch run is here, with the Cougars needing three wins in the final four games to earn a bowl berth. Though six-win teams are not guaranteed the postseason, the Pac-12 needs seven bowl eligible teams to fulfill its obligations, so any six-win conference school will get that lucky 13th game. After playing well, but not well enough, in Eugene, WSU needs to play at least to that level against a team it can upset. That’s a perfect description of Cal this week.

Husky Men's Basketball Blog | Losing Casto may be bigger blow than Thompson for WSU | Seattle Times Newspaper
Cleaning out the notebook from last week's Pac-12 Media Day and ran across these tidbits. Washington State Ken Bone has concerns about the front court and admits the vertically-challenged Cougars may have difficulty matching up against some of the taller teams in the conference.

Oregon-Washington State rewind: A young reporter's take on the game | OregonLive.com
OK everyone, remember a few weeks ago when I took a job shadow with me to the Oregon-Missouri State game and he wrote a game story?

Cougars Set to Face California - The Washington State University Official Athletic Site

SATURDAY'S GAME: The Washington State University football team (3-5, 1-4 Pac-12) travels to San Francisco to face the California Golden Bears (4-4, 1-4), Saturday, Nov. 5 at AT&T Park. Gametime is set for 3:30 p.m. and will be televised in the state of Washington on ROOT Sports and in the Bay Area on Comcast SportsNet California. The game can also be heard across the IMG College Sports Radio Network.

Cal football: Backup quarterback Allan Bridgford says he will be ready if called upon - San Jose Mercury News

For the first time since he was a senior at Mission Viejo High, quarterback Allan Bridgford begins a week with a chance to start a football game. "I think it would be awesome," Cal's redshirt sophomore said. "I'm going to do whatever is asked of me, of course. It's up to the coaches. I'm just going to work hard and do my thing."