Oregon State versus Washington State. What do you call this game? The Refugee Bowl? The Mountain West Bowl? The 2-Pac Bowl? The Leftovers Bowl? The We Did Nothing Wrong Bowl? All that aside, this a fascinating matchup because of the reality that both schools have been left behind in the wake of the Pac-12’s implosion.
Oregon State and Washington State had the most to lose if the Pac-12 did die. Now they are scrambling to see if they can salvage their respective situations. All options are on the table in terms of reimagining and reconfiguring a path to relative financial stability, but no one knows what the final outcome will be in Corvallis and Pullman. These Pacific Northwest schools have gone at each other for a long time on the playing fields and courts of the Pac-12, but now they have a special bond as two schools both fighting for their existence alongside each other, not as adversaries.
Both football teams are ranked in the US LBM Coaches Poll. The Pac-12 has eight teams in the poll heading into this weekend.
Let’s see what our Buffaloes Wire, Ducks Wire, and Trojans Wire writers and editors think about this game, part of a loaded Pac-12 football platter in Week 4: