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A lot of the Cougar faithful were disappointed that the Washington State Cougars didn’t crack the New Year’s Six despite having only 2 losses. Now the question is, after an Alamo Bowl victory and attaining 11 wins, will WSU find redemption in the final polls?
The Cougars are currently ranked 12th in the AP poll. Teams that have lost in front of WSU are #3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, #4 Oklahoma Sooners, #6 Georgia Bulldogs, #7 UCF Knights, #8 Michigan Wolverines and #9 Washington Huskies. I don’t think there is any chance that the Cougars pass the first three on that list, but they have a shot at 7-9. They should leapfrog a four loss Washington team and I would think they pass a Michigan team that was blown out in their bowl game against Florida. UCF only has one loss, but maybe because they played a weak schedule WSU gets the nod? I do get the feeling that voters wouldn’t mind knocking them down a peg or two.
On the other side of the equation there is Texas Longhorns, which is ranked behind WSU at #14, but had a big victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Texas leapfrogged WSU on some voter’s ballots.
My best guess for how this all shakes out is WSU jumps Michigan and UW for sure. Some combination of rising above UCF and falling behind Texas will put them at the #10 spot in the poll. Of course as a WSU fan, I am prepared to be disappointed. Where do you all think WSU ends up ranked?
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