WSU’s 2016 preseason AP Top 25 voters, ranked

Football is nearly upon us. The first Saturday in Martin Stadium is the weekend after next, and after a 9-4 finish last season, there was hope that WSU would open the year playing with a little number next to its name in the score bug.

Unfortunately, that won’t be happening as the Cougs didn’t receive enough votes from coaches (graduate assistants) or the Associated Press (AP) to land in the preseason Top 25. But there is hope for score bug’s in the future, as good ol’ Wazzu did receive the 29th-most votes from the AP, leaving them on the cusp of ranked glory.

We have the names of those 17 beautiful souls who saw fit to assign WSU an arbitrary number, and in the spirit of polls, we are going to rank them for you right here in reverse order (no scrolling to see who is No. 1, please).

We will assign rankings in true petty rivalry fashion—how they voted Cougs is important, but how they voted Dawgs is the tiebreaker (higher is worse). How to win the most favor? Put WSU over UW. (If you are wondering where we got this voter information, it is freely available at collegepolltracker.com, where you can also find the names of those who didn’t vote for WSU and curse them under your breath.)

17. Pat Caputo (The Oakland Press—Pontiac, MI)

Caputo gives WSU the nod at No. 25. Husky Hype™ is alive and well in Michigan, as he pegs UW at No. 11. Get this man a Starter jacket and an ice cold Zima (someone has that cellaring somewhere).

16. Patrick Brown (Chattanooga Times Free Press—Chattanooga, TN)

Brown put the Cougs at No. 25. He didn’t quite fall headfirst into the Husky Hype™, slotting them Dawgs at No. 16, two spots below their final ranking.

15. Chuck Carlton (Dallas Morning News—Dallas, TX)

Carlton is the least enamored with purple of WSU’s No. 25 assigners, putting the Huskies in at No. 19.

14. Jon Wilner (San Jose Mercury News—San Jose, CA)

The Bay Area’s college football beat writer showed the Pac-12 some love with a No. 24 WSU ranking, and he’ll be the one supplying that cellared Zima—Wilner has UW a very Husky Hype™ tenth.

13. Ed Daigneault (Republican-American—Waterbury, CT)

They watch college football in Connecticut? That’s wicked cool! I’m sure Daigneault did careful study of late-night Pac-12 games to arrive at 24th-ranked WSU and 14th-ranked UW.

12. Nathan Deen (Savannah Morning News, Savannah, GA)

Grab yourself a peach and enjoy Deen’s ranking of the Cougs at No. 24. Feel free to toss that peach away when seeing he has the Huskies at No. 16.

11. Ngozi Ekeledo (WTVD-TV, Raleigh, NC)

The South loves it some Cougs (that trend will continue). Ekeledo says it’s 24th-ranked WSU and 19th-ranked UW. She also gets to eat really good East Eastern Carolina barbecue.

10. David Briggs (Toledo Blade—Toledo, OH)

Briggs also says it’s WSU at 24 and UW at 19. Why the ranking over Ekeledo, then? Is it sexism? Is it sympathy for living in Ohio? Neither, it’s actually the super-secret tiebreaker.*

9. Matt Charboneau (The Detroit News—Detroit, MI)

UW at 12 seems a bit high, but WSU at 23 is A-OK with me, Charboneau. That’s the second Michigander to rank the Cougs. Maybe they are confusing WSU’s Pullman with the Pullman in Michigan?

8. Jeff Miller (Orange County Register—Santa Ana, CA)

Miller is following the status quo with his 14th-ranked Huskies. However, he shows himself to be a real troublemaker by checking the Cougs in at No. 23.

7. Sam McKewon (Omaha World-Herald—Omaha, NE)

The good news? McKewon is on board with Mike Leach’s squad, pegging them at No. 22. The strange news? He realllllly loves Coach Pete, giving the Huskies a Husky Hype™-approved No. 8 ranking.

6. Ross Dellenger (The Advocate—Baton Rouge, LA)

Dellenger is an advocate for WSU (No. 22), but not nearly as much as he’s an advocate for the Huskies (No. 11).

5. John Clay (Lexington Herald-Leader—Lexington, KY)

Hmmm...Another Top-10 vote for Washington. But hey, there’s the Cougs at No. 21!

4. Joe Dubin (WSMV-TV—Nashville, TN)

The Cougs at No. 17? Nicely done. Huskies at 13? Whatever, I’m still enjoying the first thing.

3. Joey Knight (Tampa Bay Times—Tampa Bay, FL)

Sweet 16 for WSU in Joey’s eyes. No tiebreaker needed, so we won’t bother with UW’s ranking.

2. Adam Jude (The Seattle Times—Seattle, WA)

The local guy puts WSU at No. 20. That’s not the highest we’ve seen so far, but Jude isn’t giving into the Husky Hype™—he’s got his hometown Dawgs at No. 22, lowest on this list.

1. Michael Lev (Orange County Register—Santa Ana, CA)

The second, more handsome, OCR writer on this list does a double-awesome thing by giving WSU its highest ranking of any voter (No. 15), and putting them one slot above UW. Beers on us at The Coug, Mr. Lev.

*It’s UCLA. The fanbase with all the qualities you love from UW’s, turned up to 11. Also, Jim Mora is the Bruins’ football coach.