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Good morning Coug fans. Your Washington State Cougars have a chance to notch their 10th win of the season tonight. That would be the first time WSU has won 10 games since 2003. There are 15-year-olds who have never known a 10-win Cougar football team. Let’s hope that changes after tonight.
It’ll be a cold one in Martin Stadium, and while all week we’ve heard pleas for students to stick around, don’t expect the adult fans to show up in waves, either. At last glance, there were still a ton of tickets unsold. A 7:30 p.m. kickoff with cold temps a week before the Apple Cup is a recipe for a smaller crowd.
But enough about who won’t be there. Let’s talk about who will be. That would be Mike Leach and the Cougs welcoming Kevin Sumlin and the Arizona Wildcats. Sumlin returns to the place he got his coaching career started and the place he could have got his head coaching career started. Alas, the job went to Paul Wulff.
The last time the Wildcats visited Pullman, they got a nice whipping, 69-7. The last time the two teams played, it was the Wildcats providing the whipping. These are two different teams this year, but many of the characters are the same. Khalil Tate 2.0 is behind center for Arizona and Mr. Mustache Gardner Minshew II is leading Wazzu.
The Cougs can clinch the North tonight with a win and an Oregon State win over UW (so, yeah). A loss does not disqualify WSU from winning the Pac-12 North. The Apple Cup will likely decide that. Again.
With that, let’s get to some futile predictions:
Three Bold Predictions
- Kahlil Tate will finish with negative rushing yards.
- Gardner Minshew will throw for more than 500 yards.
- Willie Taylor will redeem himself and score a pick-six.
That first one might be a unicorn, but Tate isn’t deployed the same way as he was last season.
Football
16 reasons why Gardner Minshew is the perfect Washington State quarterback – The Athletic
Family Dinner with Gardner Minshew and his WSU teammates touches on a lot of topics: jockstraps, Facebook furniture, and that one time Steve Spurrier walked in – then out – on him stretching.
Arizona’s Kevin Sumlin returns to the place where his career as an offensive guru first took shape | The Spokesman-Review
Imagine the 2012 college football season without Johnny Manziel’s gridiron wizardry and bombastic swagger, or the 2011 campaign without Case Keenum and his rocket right arm.
Week 12 college football picks, games, odds: West Virginia, Washington State on upset alert - CBSSports.com
The Mountaineers and Cougars have interesting tests in front of them this week.
How the top 10 teams can make the College Football Playoff | ESPN.com
The top 10 teams in the College Football Playoff selection committee's rankings all have at least a 1 percent chance to make the top four, according to Playoff Predictor. Here's how it could happen for each.
Two minute drill: Keys to victory for Washington State against Arizona | The Spokesman-Review
Keys to a potential victory for Washington State against Arizona Saturday at Martin Stadium.
No. 8 WSU football vs. Arizona: What to watch for — and a prediction | The Seattle Times
The Cougars look for their 10th win of the season Saturday. It won't be easy against a resurgent Arizona team.
Inside Washington State’s plan to turn wins into dollars, and dollars into wins | The Seattle Times
Ticket revenue is at record levels thanks to four sellouts (double last year’s total), and donations are soaring. Now the Cougars need to keep the momentum going.
College Football
College Football Playoff expansion: Will Power 5 push for eight? | SI.com
The Power 5 commissioners control the playoff structure, but as they should have realized earlier, they aren't all incentivized to support the four-team format.
College football resume rankings: The Big 12 and Pac-12 have a mountain to climb - CBSSports.com
Teams like Washington State, West Virginia and Oklahoma are alive in the playoff hunt, but it won't be easy.
College football schedule, games 2018: What to watch in Week 12, TV channels, kickoff times - CBSSports.com
Week 12 doesn't have the quantity of big games, but it still has some quality.
Eliminator -- Texas Longhorns Texas A&M Aggies Florida Gators eliminated | ESPN.com
With two weeks left in the regular season, we're down to 10 teams with a chance to win the College Football Playoff -- thanks to an LSU chaos theory.
The best teams from Syracuse, Kentucky and other hoops havens | SI.com
Syracuse and Kentucky are enjoying Top 25 seasons, but time will tell whether they hold up with the best present-era campaigns by schools known first and foremost for hoops.
Basketball
Cougar Vets Come Up Big Over Nebraska - Washington State University
It took two overtimes but in the end WSU took an 87-84 win over the Huskers.
Volleyball
No. 18 Cougars Fall in Battle Against No. 2 Stanford - Washington State University
Taylor Mims leads the offense with 14 kills against top Pac-12 opponent.