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For what seems like the billionth time this season, a Washington State Cougars kickoff time won’t be decided until the Sunday before. This time, it’s for the Apple Cup against the Washington Huskies 12 days from now but we at least know the possibilities of when it could kickoff.
The Nov. 25 Apple Cup in Seattle will be a 6-day selection, here are the options.
— WSU Cougar Football (@wsucougfb) November 13, 2017
12:30 p.m. (ABC)
or
12:45 p.m. (ESPN)
or
5 p.m. (ABC)
OR
5 p.m. (FOX)#GoCougs #AppleCup2017 pic.twitter.com/ZYAK8R3cw0
So here’s the pretty neato thing: three of those times are on over-the-air networks and, should ABC choose to pick the game up in either slot, it would be the first time the Cougs have appeared on that network since 2007.
Getting the six day window again stinks but none of the times listed are too late in the day (even for East Coast Cougs, of which I will temporarily find myself a member of for this game) and all of the broadcast options, namely no Pac-12 Network possibility or getting bumped to FS2 for the end of a crappy NASCAR truck series race, are excellent.
Where the Cougs end up will likely have to do with the Stanford Cardinal and Notre Dame Fighting Irish’s performance this weekend. If they beat the Cal Golden Bears and Navy Midshipmen, respectively, I would suspect they’ll be picked up by one of the ABC/ESPN times (they have the first pick for that weekend) and the Apple Cup will head to Fox. Even with a Stanford loss and Notre Dame win, the Irish would still have a chance at the College Football Playoff, I’d still lean towards ABC/ESPN picking it up.
So, really, if you’re rooting for the Apple Cup to end up on ABC: Go Navy, Beat Ar—, er, Notre Dame.