Washington State athletics had its best fall in 15 years

While the football team wrapped up another nice season, the other Washington State athletic programs also had a successful fall. After NCAA tournament appearances in three sports, WSU is currently in 24th place in the Division 1 Learfield Directors’ Cup.

The Directors’ Cup is a competition where points are based on how schools finish in 20 NCAA championships. After the fall season, WSU stands at 189 points. The Cougs are poised to improve significantly on their 2016-17 finish of 202.5 points.

In fact the last time the WSU had this good of a fall was in 2002, when the football team went to the Rose Bowl and the volleyball team made it to the Elite Eight. While, neither of those finishes were matched in 2017, Cougar Athletics has plenty to be proud of.

The women’s soccer team made another NCAA tournament appearance, and had its best finish in school history. The Cougs knocked off ranked Central Florida and Tennessee before falling in double overtime to no. 16 Florida in the Sweet 16. They claimed WSU the most Directors’ Cup points of any program with 64.

Head Coach Jen Greeny led WSU volleyball to its second straight appearence in the NCAA tournament where they advanced to the second round and earned Washington State 50 points in the Directors’ Cup

The men’s cross country earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and finished 24th, also earning WSU 50 points.

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Basketball:

Grip on Sports: With Stanford, Cal visiting, this is a crucial weekend for Washington State | The Spokesman-Review
All weekends in the Pac-12 basketball race matter. Some just matter more than others. Such is the case with Washington State this weekend. Read on.

Analysis: Washington State commits 22 turnovers, loses 79-70 to Stanford despite season low from Reid Travis | The Spokesman-Review
Only 2,540 came out to see the Cougars play their first home Pac-12 game of the academic semester and the encore to a promising start – WSU led by as many as nine points – was another sluggish finish.

Athletics:

Cougars Cap Fall in Director’s Cup Top 25 - WSUCougars.com | Washington State University Athletics
Washington State Athletics ended the 2017 fall sports season ranked No. 24 in the Learfield Director's Cup fall standings, the organization announced Thursday.

Football:

Jonathan Smith announces additional coaching hires
Eleven-year Pac-12 Conference veteran coach Greg Burns has joined the Oregon State football staff. Burns was a three-year starter for Washington State and Pac-10 Conference honorable mention selection in 1992 during a season where the Cougars won the Copper Bowl.