Bowl projections 2018: West Coast, Best Coast

The Washington State Cougars are six games into their season, sitting on five wins, as we all obviously saw coming. No need to go back and check the season preview, we here at CougCenter all predicted that things would go just this way.

WSU’s bye week, for what seems like the first time in forever, falls right in the middle of their season, ideal for giving those nagging injuries an extra week to heal. That’s especially good news because the second half of their schedule is decidedly more difficult than the first, including three of their next four against ranked opponents (side note: how the hell is Stanford still ranked?).

After a, shall we say, puckering win against the Oregon State Beavers, a week with nothing to worry about besides the Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies game somehow ending in an inexplicable tie with everyone playing in wet socks for all 60 minutes will be nice. It’s also a great time to see where the Cougs stand when it comes to the postseason!

Before we get to the projections, a reminder of the Pac-12’s bowl tie-ins.

1. Rose Bowl: Jan. 1st, 2:00 p.m. on ESPN vs. Big Ten
2. Alamo Bowl: Dec. 28th, 6:00 p.m. on ESPN vs. Big 12
3. Holiday Bowl: Dec. 31st, 4:00 p.m. on FS1 vs. Big Ten
4. Redbox Bowl: Dec. 31st, Noon on FOX vs. Big Ten
5. Sun Bowl: Dec. 31st, 11:00am on CBS vs. ACC/Notre Dame
6. Las Vegas Bowl: Dec. 15th, 12:30 p.m. on ABC vs. Mountain West
7. Cheez-It Bowl: Dec. 26th, 6:00 p.m. on ESPN vs. Big 12

SB Nation: SERVPRO First Responders Bowl vs. North Texas

This one hasn’t changed for weeks so give it to the mothership for at least being consistent. The way things are trending, it certainly seems like the Pac-12 will more than fulfill their bowl requirements so someone is going to have to end up in an at-large game. Once the time comes, we’ll get more into how teams get picked, how far they can slide, etc. but there will some teams heading somewhere other than one of the above seven.

ESPN: Redbox Bowl vs. Northwestern and Sun Bowl vs. Virginia Tech

Different opinions again from Kyle Bonagura and Mitch Sherman this week and, depending on how much the Pac-12 South cannibalizes itself, the Redbox Bowl (nee San Francisco, nee Foster Farms) could be a real possibility!

CBS: Cheez-it Bowl vs. Utah State

A preview of things to come in 2020 and 2021 and, though it is way down the table of Pac-12 bowls, I still desperately need all the swag I can get my hands on.

College Football News: Redbox Bowl vs. Northwestern

Our first repeat in this week’s feature but I would gladly go without playing Big Ten teams in the postseason for the foreseeable future.