Top 25: Did WSU Cougars stay in poll after shocking loss?

The WSU Cougars’ 38-35 loss Saturday night to New Mexico dashed their hopes of crashing the College Football Playoff, but that wasn’t the only damage it did.

New Mexico stuns No. 19 WSU Cougars 38-35 with final-minute TD

Washington State fell from No. 19 all the way to the last spot in the Associated Press’ weekly top 25 poll that was released late Sunday morning.

Now 8-2 on the season, WSU could be considered lucky to be the No. 25 team in the country as it is lacking in quality wins due to a diminished schedule, a result of the collapse of the Pac-12. The Cougars have played just one team that is currently ranked – No. 12 Boise State, who beat WSU 45-24 on Sept. 28. Losing on Saturday night to New Mexico, which now has a 5-6 record, certainly doesn’t help matters.

WSU’s three best wins this year all came in a row – a 37-16 win over Texas Tech on Sept. 7, a 24-19 Apple Cup victory over the rival UW Huskies on Sept. 14, and a 54-52 double-overtime win over San Jose State on Sept. 21. All three of those teams are bowl-eligible with six wins apiece.

WSU did not crack the top 25 in the coaches poll that was put out Sunday, instead showing up as the first team on the outside looking in.

Along with Oregon State, the only other remaining team from the previous iteration of the Pac-12, the bulk of Wazzu’s season has been against Mountain West competition thanks to a scheduling agreement between the two conferences for this year and 2025. Several Mountain West teams will join a revamped version of the Pac-12 in 2026, though the league is still in need of one more football program to reach eight, which is the minimum amount to be a recognized conference in play for NCAA championships and the College Football Playoff.

WSU stays on the road to play Oregon State (4-6) at 4 p.m. next Saturday, Nov. 23, then will wrap up its regular season the following week at home against Wyoming (2-8).

The Oregon Ducks remain the No. 1 team in the country with an undefeated 11-0 record, the most recent being a 16-13 nail-biter over Wisconsin on Saturday. The Ducks are what’s up next for the UW Huskies (6-5), who earned their sixth win needed for bowl eligibility just in time on Friday night against UCLA. The Huskies are off this weekend, and if they had lost to the Bruins, they would have needed to be the first team all year to beat the Ducks – in Eugene, no less – in order to go bowling this year.

UW did not gain any points in the voting for either of the AP or coaches polls this week.

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