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The 2012 season may have ended just a few days ago but many had been wondering well before then what WSU's conference schedule might look like for the following season. Thanks to Ted Miller and the Pac-12 blog at ESPN we know who we'll be playing and where. Here's a look at WSU's Pac-12 schedule next season:
WASHINGTON STATE
Home: ASU, OSU, STAN, UTAH.
Away: ARIZ, CAL, ORE, USC, WASH
Miss: UCLA, Colorado
This flies directly in the face of what the original two year rotation was supposed to look like. In theory, WSU was supposed to play Colorado and miss Utah but that's obviously not the case. My feelings aren't hurt too much by missing UCLA next year as they should be a very good team again.
Other than missing UCLA though, this schedule doesn't set up too favorably for the Cougars to get to a bowl game next year. Of the five away games, four of the opponents were ranked this season and although you did beat one of them in dramatic fashion (hey Washington!), traveling to Arizona, USC and Oregon won't be easy.
If you're a season ticket holder, the home schedule probably doesn't inspire you to open your wallet to renew your seats. The OSU game will be played in Seattle which leaves ASU, Stanford and Utah in addition to your non-conference games with Idaho and Southern Utah to be played in Pullman. That's pretty, uh, well, it's bad.
We obviously don't have the exact schedule for the games yet but we can theorize the Apple Cup will likely be the final weekend of the year (unless we get jobbed into having it in October a la Stanford and Cal this year) but beyond that, it's up in the air.
Let the "try and find six wins somewhere in that schedule" pontificating begin.