It’s official: WSU is headed to the Cheez It Bowl to face Air Force

We had to wait much longer and things were decidedly murkier than last year but we finally know the Washington State Cougars postseason destination: they’re headed to the Cheez It Bowl in Phoenix to face the Air Force Falcons.

Since the Cougs were at the bottom of the bowl pecking order this year, the Utah Utes placement in the final CFP rankings mattered a lot to where they’d end up. After the shellacking at the hands of the Oregon Ducks in the Pac-12 Championship, Utah fell to No. 11 which dropped them out of New Years Six contention and put them in the Alamo Bowl where they’ll face the Texas Longhorns.

Washington State waited until just about the last minute to become bowl eligible, beating the Oregon State Beavers 54-53 in the penultimate week of the season. Despite the less prestigious bowl placement this year, this represents a school record fifth straight postseason appearance and even with the increase in the amount of bowls, that’s still a very hard thing to do. This is also the last season the bowls will stack up this way for the Pac-12, with big changes on the horizon for next season.

Air Force meanwhile finished their season at 10-2, losing only to the Boise State Broncos and the Navy Midshipmen; both games were played away from Colorado Springs. It will also be an incredible contrast in offensive styles as the Falcons deploy the triple option while Wazzu runs the Air Raid. This is the first time the teams have ever met; WSU has previously played a service academy once in 1980 with a win over the Army Black Knights.

The game will kickoff on Friday, December 27th at 7:15 p.m. Pacific and will be broadcast on ESPN. Below is the full bowl line-up for the Pac-12.

1. Rose Bowl: No. 6 Oregon Ducks vs. No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers January 1, 2 p.m. on ESPN
2. Alamo Bowl: No. 11 Utah Utes vs. Texas Longhorns, December 31, 4:30 p.m. on ESPN
3. Holiday Bowl: No. 23 USC Trojans vs. No. 16 Iowa Hawkeyes December 27, 5 p.m. on FS1
4. Redbox Bowl: Cal Golden Bears vs. Illinois Fighting Illini December 30, 1 p.m. on FOX vs.
5. Sun Bowl: Arizona State Sun Devils vs. Florida State Seminoles, December 31, 11 a.m. on CBS
6. Las Vegas Bowl: Washington Huskies vs. No. 19 Boise State Broncos, December 21, 4:30 p.m. on ABC
7. Cheez-It Bowl: Washington State Cougars vs. Air Force Falcons, December 27, 7:15 p.m. on ESPN