WSU moves up to No. 7 in latest AP poll, barely behind Oklahoma

Fresh off a 69-28 whipping of the Arizona Wildcats, the voters in the Associated Press poll moved the Washington State Cougars up to No. 7, just a handful of points behind the Oklahoma Sooners for the No. 6 spot in the top 25.

The Cougars also moved up to No. 7 in the coaches poll.

WSU, previously ranked No. 8, benefitted from a loss by the erstwhile No. 7 West Virginia Mountaineers, and they now sit just 33 points behind the Sooners — who, by the way, have zero victories over ranked opponents and seem to be mostly riding on the reputation of their initial season ranking at this point. In the last three weeks, they’ve squeaked out victories over the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Oklahoma State Cowboys before posting a pedestrian 15-point victory over the feckless Kansas Jayhawks.

Those 33 points are basically two or three ballots’ worth of votes.

The UCF Knights, LSU Tigers and Ohio State Buckeyes are bunched closely at 8 and 10, but a fair amount behind the Sooners and Cougs:

Associated Press

Joining WSU in the top 25 from the Pac-12 are the Washington Huskies at No. 16 and Utah at No. 18.

Of course, the only ranking that really matters now is the College Football Playoff, which will again be announced on Tuesday. The Cougars sit at No. 8 there; will the committee find the 41-point beatdown of Arizona impressive enough to move WSU past the Sooners?

The Cougars will next be in action on Friday against the Huskies in the Apple Cup. Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. PT on Big FOX. Hold on to your butts.