The College Football Playoff has expanded to include 12 teams this season: the regular season winner of the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC, one champion from the Group of Five conferences, and seven at-large spots which can go to any team at the FCS level.
Most of those seven at-large spots are expected to go to teams in the SEC and Big Ten, with as many as six SEC teams and four Big Ten teams all strongly in the mix right now.
However, there is a now independent school out in Pullman Washington that is slowly putting together a case and has enough strength of schedule remaining to potentially spoil the party: the Washington State Cougars.
Jake Dickert’s club is 4-0 to begin the 2024 season, and while all four games have been at home it hasn’t been a cakewalk. Sure Portland State in Week 1 was an easy 70-30 victory, but a dominant 37-16 win over Big 12 opponent Texas Tech in Week 2 turned some heads, especially now that the Red Raiders are 3-1 with a nice win over a surging Arizona State team in Week 4.
WSU then hosted in-state rival Washington for the Apple Cup, held early in the season thanks to the two programs no longer playing in the same conference, and the Cougars defense and timely offense led them to a 24-19 victory and a 3-0 start, which turned to 4-0 after a chaotic 54-52 victory over San Jose State last week.
Remaining Schedule
To first determine if Washington State has any chance of earning a bid to the College Football Playoff, we have to look at the remaining games on the schedule to determine if the quality of opponents is enough to merit consideration in the event the Cougars finish the regular season undefeated.
With a win each against the Big 12 and Big Ten, WSU is already off to a great start. And three of the team’s next four games are all true road games, and all against teams that will be in the Pac-12 alongside Washington State in 2026…although all three are currently still in the Mountain West.
The Cougars face Boise State in Boise on Saturday September 28th, then after a bye will play Fresno State in Fresno on October 12th. A home battle with Hawaii awaits on October 19th, followed by a road game at San Diego State on October 26th, then closing with Utah State at home, New Mexico and Oregon State each on the road, and then Wyoming at home on November 30th.
Sure, this isn’t the gauntlet teams in the SEC or Big Ten will be facing for the next two months, and if teams like Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, Ole Miss, Penn State, Oregon, USC, and LSU continue to play well it will be extremely difficult to find a spot for a program like Washington State – even if they win every game this season.
But, if WSU does capture road wins at Boise and Fresno, and if Texas Tech and Washington finish the season strong, the committee should give serious consideration to the Cougars as a College Football Playoff squad.
At the very least, this team deserves to be ranked despite being just outside the top 25 in both the AP and Coaches Poll after Week 4.