WSU out of the New Year’s Six after final CFP rankings revealed

The Washington State Cougars did not get the help they needed on Championship Saturday to move up in the College Football Playoff rankings, which means that despite a 10-win regular season they will miss out on a coveted New Year’s Six bowl game and will likely head to the Alamo Bowl to face the West Virginia Mountaineers.

As in the penultimate rankings, the Cougs finished 13th behind the Florida Gators, LSU Tigers and Penn State Nittany Lions at 10th, 11th and 12th respectively despite having fewer losses and, perhaps most egregiously in the case of PSU, better wins and losses. Apparently what matters, though, is being a blue blood. So, after a magical 2018 season, the Cougs will not play in the Fiesta Bowl or Peach Bowl.

Following a Saturday that went to script, the Alabama Crimson Tide, Clemson Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Oklahoma Sooners will be battling for the national title. The Ohio State Buckeyes finish 6th despite winning the Big Ten behind the 5th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs and will face the 9th ranked Washington Huskies in the Rose Bowl. The top-ten is rounded out by the Michigan Wolverines at 7th and the UCF Knights at 8th.

All in all, this is a disappointment. Despite WSU’s better resume than a number of teams above them, they won’t be playing in Glendale or Atlanta. But given the expectations going into the season, a trip to San Antonio isn’t something to shake a stick at.

Oh, and the Alamodome is gunna need a new scoreboard, probably.