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It’s the inaugural Family Weekend at Washington State as the Cougars — winners of two straight — prepare to take on the Stanford Cardinal.
Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. PT from Gesa Field, with the game to be broadcast on ESPNU. You can also stream it via WatchESPN.com or the ESPN app on your various devices. (Cable subscription required.)
Both teams have been hard to pin down the season, producing inconsistent results. The Cougars got off to a rough start to the season, opening 1-3, with the lone win coming over FCS Portland State. They have since rebounded to win consecutive games over Cal and Oregon State, giving life to their dreams of continuing their run of bowl games (five in a row in non-Covid-shortened seasons).
Stanford, meanwhile, has the best win between the two teams, beating then-No. 3 Oregon at home in overtime. However, that was sandwiched between double-digit losses to UCLA and Arizona State, and the Cardinal also find themselves at 3-3 at the halfway point of the season.
To that end, this is a pretty massive game for each team’s postseason hopes.
But there’s something else out there for each of them as well: The Pac-12 North is an absolute mess, and both teams — at 2-2 — find themselves just a half game behind the division-leading Ducks, who narrowly escaped with a 24-17 victory over the Golden Bears on Friday night.
However improbable it is, both teams today can realistically say — with a win — that they’re still chasing a division title.
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